Rihanna has been deemed ‘too sexy’ to front Nivea’s latest skincare advertising campaign.
The 24-year-old Bajan singer was set to star in a series of TV and billboard adverts for the popular skincare brand, which sponsored her world tour last year.
Stefan Heidenreich, the CEO of Nivea’s parent company, has banned the use of these raunchy adverts, one of which features a topless Rihanna covered only by her arms, to maintain the ‘family friendly’ image he is trying the create for the company.
Speaking to a German newspaper, Heidenreich said: “The advert starring Rihanna was a no go. I do not understand how Nivea can be brought into association with Rihanna. Nivea is a company which stands for trust, family and reliability.”
Other adverts in in the campaign depcict the star in sexual scenes while wearing lingerie.
The entire campaign was scrapped in favor of more family friendly scenes, such as a video (below) of a family moisturising across generations with Nivea products, while Rihanna’s song “California King” plays in the background.
Heidenreich officially became CEO of Nivea’s parent company Beiersdorf at the beginning of this year. His recent decision to scrap the campaign marks a complete U-Turn from Nivea executive Markus Pinger, who released a statment after signing the star, saying: “Rihanna is a music icon and her digital footprint will help us bring our anniversary celebration to consumers wherever they are.”
Rihanna’s actions have been called into question many times over the past year. The star posted pictures of herself at Coachella which many believed to depict her doing lines of cocaine off a man’s head. Her music videos have also been called into question, with the star being forced to defend her “Man Down” music video as it depicts her shooting a man.
Watch one of Nivea’s recent ‘family friendly’ campaigns below:
