In an effort to relaunch their Sauvage fragrance, Dior cast American actor Johnny Depp as a spokesperson for their campaign, which heavily leans on Native American themes.
Two teaser trailers were posted to Dior’s Twitter account on Friday showing a Native American dancer and Johnny Depp, among others.
“An authentic journey deep into the Native American soul in a sacred, founding and secular territory,” a tweet from Dior promised. “More to come. September 1st.”
Negative reaction was widespread and honed in on the fact that Johnny Depp is not Native American. Depp was also widely criticized in 2013 for his role as Tonto, a Native American character, in The Lone Ranger.
“On its face, this is horrible,” one user tweeted of the ad. “Then you confirm the name: Sauvage. Like ‘savage,’ but fancier. THEN I clicked through (so others wouldn’t have to) and Johnny Depp is the face of this. Depp, who immersed himself in cultural appropriation with Tonto. @dior, you can’t be serious.”
On its face, this is horrible. Then you confirm the name: Sauvage. Like “savage,” but fancier. THEN I clicked through (so others wouldn’t have to) and Johnny Depp is the face of this. Depp, who immersed himself in cultural appropriation with Tonto. @dior, you can’t be serious. https://t.co/tOFBuFMEeM
— April (@ReignOfApril) August 30, 2019
Others shared similar reactions.
My god @Dior/@LVMH…haven’t you learned anything? pic.twitter.com/7TeUskgAiF
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) August 30, 2019
The only way this Dior campaign could be worse is if Elizabeth Warren had a cameo.
— Bridget Phetasy (@BridgetPhetasy) 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
