Not even raging anti-Trump zealot Johnny Depp is safe from the wokescolds of the left. Nor is the luxury brand Christian Dior.
Both Dior and Depp, who serves as the face of the brand’s “Sauvage” cologne campaign, are facing criticism from wokescolds for a new advertisement dropped recently that features some elements of Native American culture.
According to wokescolds, both Dior and Depp are engaging in “cultural appropriation” and also disrespecting Native American people.
Watch the ad below:
Note that several of the actors and actresses seen in the ad are Native American themselves.
The ad “shows Depp walking amid the red rocks of south-western Utah, stacking rocks to mark his path, as a Native American fancy war dancer Canku One Star, a Rosebud Sioux member, performs on cliff and a young woman, portrayed by Canadian actor of First Nations descent Tanaya Beatty, follows Depp from a distance,” The Guardian reported.
The criticism on social media has been intense, with far-left “journalist” Yashar Ali — who was sued two years ago for defaming then-FNC host Eric Bolling — leading the charge.
Look (*Language warning):
My god @Dior/@LVMH…haven’t you learned anything? pic.twitter.com/7TeUskgAiF
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) August 30, 2019
The absurdity of the @Dior #Sauvage Ad w/ Johnny Depp:
• Supposedly anti-appropriation, but goes balls deep in appropriation.
• Titles the actress as maiden & the native actor, warrior.
• Says it is helping Native folx, but invokes stupid/ignorant “indian” tropes.
…— Dallas Goldtooth (@dallasgoldtooth) August 30, 2019
So the fact that “Sauvage” is on some “we are the land” BS is not surprising, but as always I find it deeply disturbing when brands force Native people to make the choice between stereotypes and misrepresentation, or utter invisibility.
— Dr. Adrienne Keene (@NativeApprops) August 30, 2019
This seems awfully ‘raucist’.
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) August 30, 2019
Not today, colonizer.
— Meena Harris (@meenaharris) August 30, 2019
I cannot with @Dior exploiting native culture for their fragrance #sauvage… and yes that’s SAVAGE! What the FUCK?!? Y’all are disgusting! You mean to tell me that NOT ONE person in your company saw this as an issue through the tiresome ideation process?!?
— Shuga Cain (@MissShugaCain) August 30, 2019
Using Depp for this horror of a campaign is racist icing on the colonized cake, given Depp’s prior, unfounded claims of having “Native ancestry” and then his appalling stint as “Toto” in The Lone Ranger. This is beyond tone deaf. Good holy Zeus this is bad. pic.twitter.com/leNTgx9Uh2
— Kathleen Smith (@KikkiPlanet) August 30, 2019
WTAF is this white nonsense here? “Sauvage”? Are they punking us right now? This can’t be real.
— Kathleen Smith (@KikkiPlanet) August 30, 2019
A dozen people should be fired for this. Promote anyone who tried to warn you.
— Lev Novak (@LevNovak) August 30, 2019
Some of the rage stems from the cologne’s name. Despite the cologne being four years old, some people now believe the name “Sauvage” is racist because its English counterpart, savage, is a word that was used to malign Native Americans hundreds of years ago.
What’s notable is that none of the wokescolds seem at all interested in either the fact that actual Native Americans willingly participated in the ad, or the fact that the ad was produced in collaboration with Americans for Indian Opportunity, a social justice-themed nonprofit that advances “the cultural, political and economic rights of Indigenous peoples in the United States and around the world.”
In fact, part of the reason the brand collaborated with Native American consultants was specifically to avoid engaging in any sort of cultural appropriation.
“As soon as we began to evoke Native American imagery and symbols in this new film, the House of Dior, Jean-Baptiste Mondino and Johnny Depp immediately decided to contact Native American consultants who are enrolled citizens of the Comanche, Isleta and Taos Pueblos and the Pawnee Nation,” Dior said in a statement to Time magazine.
Their “shared aim,” the brand reportedly added, was “moving away from clichés in order to avoid the cultural appropriation and subversion that so often taints images representing Native peoples.”
“And so, from the script to the choice of locations via costume making and right down to casting, which they organized themselves, the AIO validated all the elements and symbols linked to Native American cultures.”
Note also that Depp is an honorary member of the Comanche Nation:
Dior collaborated with Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) to “ensure respect for indigenous cultures, values and heritage.” AIO is run by LaDonna Harris, who adopted Johnny Depp into the Comanche Nation before he played Tonto in 2013’s reboot of The Lone Ranger pic.twitter.com/uTGx0Er2gs
— Jeff Yang (@originalspin) August 30, 2019
And then there’s AIO’s personal reasons for participating in the campaign.
“The Parfums Christian Dior project is a part of AIO’s Advance Indigeneity Campaign to change the misperceptions about Native Americans, to share accurate American history, to build awareness about Native Americans as contemporary peoples and to promote Indigenous worldviews,” the organization reportedly announced back on Aug. 20. “AIO supports Native American art, films, books, and other forms of Indigenous pop culture. Through the Advance Indigeneity Campaign, AIO continues to work at an international level with schools and universities to build innovative curriculum for and by Native peoples. We are very proud of this collaboration with AIO on the new ad campaign for Sauvage.”
But none of this appears to matter to the wokescolds, who’ve chosen to prioritize their own personal feelings on the matter over any reasonable, logic-based arguments.
Sounds about left …
As of Sunday, if not earlier, the “Sauvage” ad had reportedly been scrubbed by Dior.
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Vivek@bizpacreview.com
V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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