Heineken pulls ‘Lighter Is Better’ ad after outcry over racism

A new advert on popular beer, Heineken, has been criticized to have an undertone of racism in the script. But the company has taken down the advert after the outcry.

The advert shows a bottle of Heineken sliding along a bar past black people with “sometimes, lighter is better” as the tagline.


In the video, a bartender is seen sliding a bottle of Heineken along the bar to a woman who looks sad. The barman then sends the beer sliding past a black woman, a black man playing a guitar, and a black woman walking past. It then ends front of the light-skinned model with the caption “sometimes, lighter is better”.

The advert has however been condemned by viewers after it was put out on the internet. Even celebrities called the brand out.

Chance the Rapper called out the advert over the weekend saying:

“I think companies are purposely putting out noticeably racist ads so they can get more views. And that shit racist/bogus so I guess I shouldn’t help by posting about it. But I just gotta say tho. The ‘sometimes lighter is better’ Heineken commercial is terribly racist omg.”

He added that he wasn’t telling people to boycott the brand adding,

“I’m just noticing how often it happens and I think they baiting consumers and tweeters and freelancers and shit. Like I didn’t wanna tweet about it so bad but its like how can u not.”

But some people pointed out that the focus was actually on the wine, not on the color of the people’s skin.

Heineken has since apologised for the advert and said it missed its mark. The advert has also been pulled from Heineken USA’s YouTube page.



Watch the advert below.

Spokesman Bjorn Trowery said:


“For decades, Heineken has developed diverse marketing that shows there’s more that unites us than divides us. While we feel the ad is referencing our Heineken Light beer – we missed the mark, are taking the feedback to heart and will use this to influence future campaigns.”