2. Seoul Secret
In 2016, Thai company Seoul Secret advertised skin-lightening tablets with the slogan “White makes you win”, prompting a backlash that forced the company to apologise and abandon the campaign.
It featured a popular model and singer talking about the merits of having light skin.
"Before I got to this point the competition was very high," says Cris Horwang, an Instagram celebrity now with almost 4m followers.
"If I stop taking care of myself, everything I have worked for, the whiteness I have invested in, may be lost,” the actress adds as she stands alongside another light-skinned woman. Her own skin then steadily turns darker.
The advert’s central racist message was: “White makes you win.”
Following outrage on social media, Seoul Secret offered this apology: “Our company did not have any intention to convey discriminatory or racist messages. What we intended to convey was that self-improvement in terms of personality, appearance, skills and professionality is crucial.”
