French luxury giant Dior is facing widespread backlash on social media for a new ad campaign and fragrance it’s promoting called “Sauvage” — which features Johnny Depp as its face and imagery related to the Native American culture, including people dancing to the beat of drums.
“Johnny Depp is not Native. Dior is not Native owned. What kind of nonsense is this?” seethed one Twitter user.
“I’m Native, and I’m cringing,” they said.
Countless people were accusing the fashion and beauty brand of racism and cultural appropriation on Friday after it rolled out clips for the new campaign — dubbed “We are the Land” — on social media.
“What in the cultural appropriation is this?!” tweeted user @ernestsewell. “@Dior – no. You don’t appropriate native American culture for your stink water, and you don’t use it for a product titled “Wild” in French. Your parfum smells like RACISM.”
Robert Jago said, “‘Sauvage’ is the word the racist mobs were screaming when they stoned Mohawk civilians during the Oka crisis.”
Dior was scrubbing its clips and teasers for the ad campaign from the internet on Friday night as more and more people complained about the Native American imagery. The company reportedly consulted with Native Americans while coming up with the ads.
“For this project, the house of Dior also collaborated with Native American consultants from the 50-year old Indigenous advocacy organisation, Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO), to ensure respect for indigenous cultures, values and heritage,” reported Esquire in an article Thursday.
“Set right in the heart of the Canyonlands, the ancestral land of the Utes, the Apaches and the Navajo peoples, it provides authentic inclusion of Native American cultures,” the magazine said. “As such, the film serves as a love letter to the spirit of a land that should be protected, cultures that should be celebrated, and to peoples that should be honoured. Indeed, a perfect embodiment of a Sauvage individual — manifested in three personalities.”
Footage released by Dior features Depp and others discussing their connections to the Native American culture. Depp, at one point, says he was adopted into the Comanche Nation.
Social media users scoffed at his claim.
“I’ve been on Johnny Depp’s case since at least 2012,” tweeted Dr. Adrienne Keene, an American and Native American activist and scholar. “He’s not Native, he’s not a friend to Indian Country. Dior has also been on the appropriation train since forever. Galliano literally put ghost dance designs on dresses.”
Some people did come to Dior and Depp’s defense, but there was far more outrage.
“WTF were they thinking?” asked one Twitter user.
“Some people offended by anything these days,” another said.
Dior could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. The company sent CNBC a press release from a nonprofit called the Americans for Indian Opportunity, which advocates for the rights of Indigenous peoples. The group sent its experts to collaborate with Dior on the campaign. It reportedly confirmed Depp’s status as an honorary citizen of the Comanche Nation, saying it was granted in 2012.
“There was need for authenticity and respect for the land and the nations that allowed us to shoot there,” Depp said in the release. “From the choice of location, wardrobe making, right down to casting and set design, AIO was involved.”
Dior refused to comment on the outrage surrounding the campaign.