Fairy Soap (1897)
Fairy Soap is a soap brand owned by N.K. Fairbank Company around 1897. Nathaniel Kellogg 'N.K.' Fairbank (1829–1903) was a Chicago industrialist whose company, the N.K. Fairbank Co. manufactured soap as well as animal and baking products in conjunction with the major meatpacking houses of northern Illinois. [1]
Fairy soap is originally created by N.K. Fairbank, until it is bought by Procter & Gamble.
Controversy
It was predicted that this Fairy Soap ad probably appeared sometime after 1897, since N.K. Fairbank Co. was founded in 1875. As a company, N.K. Fairbank Company was in business from 1875 to 1921.
This commercial is rather controversial, as it featured a white boy asking a black kid, "Why doesn't your mom wash you with Fairy soap?" [2] It seemed like the black boy was filthy, and the soap being sold had the ability to alter the colour of the child's face. This ad is linked to the latest racist ad by Dove. In this ad, Fairy soap presents a black child as dirty and devoid of any positive qualities. This ad emphasizes on the “accepted” skin colour in that period, is white.
In this commercial, Fairy soap portrays a black infant as disgusting and incapable of any good quality. This ad emphasizes the white color of the skin recognized in that era.
By the expression, "Why doesn't your mom shower you with Fairy Soap? "This ad also criticizes the preference of a black mother for a child's grooming product and praises the mother of a white baby.