Heineken pulls ad Chance the Rapper called 'terribly racist'

Heineken may have taken Chance the Rapper's criticism of one of their advertisements to heart.

The Dutch brewing company has pulled the plug on the Heineken Light commercial the recording artist called "terribly racist."

The advertisement shows a bartender sliding a bottle of Heineken beer past three black people to a white woman standing at an opposite end of a bar. It ends with the slogan, "Sometimes, Lighter is Better" and highlights the beer's 99 calorie count.

"For decades, Heineken has developed a positive track record for creating marketing that shows there's more that unites us than divides us," Heineken said in a statement provided to ABC News. "While we feel the ad is referencing our Heineken Light beer, and that light beer is better than other high-calorie options -- we missed the mark, are taking the feedback to heart and will use this to influence future campaigns."

On Sunday, the Chicago rapper, whose given name is Chancelor Bennett, wrote a post on Twitter accusing Heineken of baiting the public with the advertisement. He also clarified that he was not calling for anyone to boycott the company.

"I think some companies are purposely putting out noticably [sic] racist ads so they can get more views," he wrote. "And that s--- racist/bogus so I guess I shouldn't help by posting about it."

Heineken pulled a series of commercials for light beer that featured the tagline “sometimes, lighter is better" after one of the ads was criticized as racist https://t.co/2Yz19OZbuD

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 28, 2018

This Heineken light beer commercial is definitely racist. What idiots do they have approving this ad? Fire that person. And the ad agency who developed it should be fired. Period. No excuse for this. I watched the ad. It's racist.

— Helen Ehrenhofer (@helenehrenhofer) March 26, 2018

Heineken has pulled a new ad after Chance the Rapper called it racist.

The ad for Heineken Light shows a bartender sliding a bottle past several black people to a light-skinned woman. The tagline? “Sometimes, lighter is better.” pic.twitter.com/Nail0vT9bc

— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 27, 2018

A new Heineken Light ad features a bartender passing a low-calorie drink past three black women to give it to a white woman, and people aren't happy: https://t.co/sDyeybwmkt pic.twitter.com/rJfQqALtTE

— E! News (@enews) March 26, 2018

Please watch this commercial and tell me, is this racist?
Or a stretch?
416 872 1010@nightside1010https://t.co/Tzcor6EyGk

— Barb DiGiulio (@BarbDGtoronto) March 27, 2018

“The ad features a bartender sliding a bottle of Heineken Light to a woman. The bottle travels past several black people before arriving at the paler skinned woman.” How is that not racist?

— Goutham Selladurai (@DrSGoutham) March 27, 2018

Head-desk!
Heineken has prompted criticism for a new range of light beer being described as racist.

The ad shows a beer being slid along a bar by a past three black women, before stopping at a lighter skinned woman, with the tag line, "sometimes lighter is better".

— marcus kelson (@marcuskelson) March 26, 2018

Lenny Bruce ad: Have Heineken Light slide past several fat white men to a skinny black gal..."Once you go HEINY,...You never go back"
-
Chance the Rapper is calling out this racist Heineken ad pic.twitter.com/uVA2VuLyJK

— Larry Gorkin (@LarryGorkin1) March 27, 2018

Lenny Bruce ad: Have Heineken Light slide past several fat white men to a skinny black gal..."Once you go HEINY,...You never go back"
-
Chance the Rapper is calling out this racist Heineken ad pic.twitter.com/uVA2VuLyJK

— Larry Gorkin (@LarryGorkin1) March 27, 2018

Don't ever use the word "light" in an ad, apparently. Heineken experienced a social-media backlash that accused an ad for its light beer as being racist because it said "lighter is better" and the complexions of the people in the clip.

— Bryan Doyle (@Bryan700) March 27, 2018

Heineken pulls 'terribly racist' light beer ad https://t.co/W0ZyW3CiEJ pic.twitter.com/e9bMAtwJC4

— Toronto Sun (@TheTorontoSun) March 28, 2018

RT adage "Heineken receives backlash over "lighter is better" campaign despite ads airing as far back as last summer. https://t.co/ozjvwLIaTB pic.twitter.com/hAh0bKskp6"

— 33Signals LLC (@33signals) March 28, 2018

Heineken Pulls ‘Lighter Is Better’ Ad After Outcry Over Racism: In the commercial, a bartender slides a light beer past three black people and into the hands of a fairer-skinned woman. https://t.co/cPVnwPYdbj pic.twitter.com/RUCM6QFr6j

— Kona Nature Tours (@KonaNatureTours) March 28, 2018

The “Sometimes Lighter is Better” line in our ad solely refers to the benefits of the beer itself; it contains only 99 calories. Unfortunately, the line has been misinterpreted by some people. This was of course never our intention and we're taking the feedback to heart.

— Heineken (@Heineken) March 28, 2018