Skip to main content
Netherlands News in English

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Heineken Experience, Amsterdam
A long line of bottles at the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam - Credit: AndyBryant / Wikimedia Commons - License: Public Domain
Business
Heineken
commercial
Chance the Rapper
Racism
Wednesday, 28 March 2018 - 14:10

Share this article:

Heineken retracts commercial after racism accusations

Dutch beer giant Heineken decided to retract a commercial after Chance the Rapper called the campaign slogan "sometimes, lighter is better" racist.

"Although we find the commercial refers to our Heineken Light beer, we have missed the mark and we take the feedback to heart', Heineken said in a statement, RTL Nieuws reports. "We will take this into account n the development of our future campaigns."

Heineken Light is a brew for the foreign market that contains fewer calories and less alcohol. In the commercial, which can be seen at the bottom of this article, a barman spots an apparently thirsty woman at the end of the bar with binoculars. He opens a light beer and slides it towards her. The beer slides past a number of dark skin people before ending up with the woman at the end of the bar, at which point the slogan "sometimes lighter is better" appears on the screen.

On Twitter Chicago based rapper Chance the Rapper wrote that he hesitated about drawing attention to this commercial. "I think sometimes companies are purposely putting out noticeably racist ads so they can get more views", he wrote. "But I gotta say tho. The 'sometimes lighter is better' Heineken commercial is terribly racist." He got a lot of support from other Twitter users.

I think some companies are purposely putting out noticably 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 gotta just say tho. The “sometimes lighter is better” Hienekin commercial is terribly racist omg

— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) March 26, 2018

More like this

Image
Brazilian chief executive Rafael Oliveira, set to be appointed as Heineken CEO.
Incoming Heineken chief receives 25 million euro share package
Image
Heineken sign in Amsterdam
Heineken board taps JDE Peet’s exec. Rafa Oliveira as new CEO
Image
Mosque in the Netherlands
Islamic groups ask for protection for mosques after multiple vandalisms, hate letters
Image
FvD leader Thierry Baudet classhing with D66 MP Jan Paternotte during a parliamentary debate, 27 March 2024
FvD documentary: Holocaust-denial, misogyny, conspiracy theories in far-right party
Make NL Times your top Google source

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Heatwave: Defqon.1, TT Assen ready for 38°C days; More events cancelled
  • Hundreds of thousands of Dutch use Ozempic to lose weight; Third without prescription
  • Controversial FVD-affiliated school reopens with state funding confirmed
  • Record variable electricity prices forecast for Wednesday evening in Netherlands
  • Netherlands under code orange as record heat intensity levels recorded in Eindhoven

Top stories

  • Six arrested in electoral fraud investigation; Allegations of forgery, voter coercion
  • Hottest night on Dutch records expected tomorrow; Code Orange takes effect at noon
  • 270 children abducted to or from the Netherlands last year; Increase of over 25%
  • Public transport strike from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m.: No trains, buses, trams, metros running
  • Life sentence sought for Dutch-Rwandan man over massacre of 3,000 Tutsi in 1994 genocide

© 2012-2026, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Change Privacy Settings
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Partner Content