Naomi Osaka Nissin advert: Noodle company removes controversial commercial after criticism for ‘whitewashing’

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Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open
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Richard Parry24 January 2019

A controversial commercial depicting tennis star Naomi Osaka with pale skin and light brown hair has been removed.

Japanese noodle company Nissin have taken the steps to remove the advert after a public outcry. The commercial depicted Osaka, whose father is Haitian and mother is Japanese, with pale skin and light brown hair, in the trademark style of Japanese manga.

Daisuke Okabayashi, a spokesman for Nissin Foods Holdings, confirmed that two animation clips - which went up earlier this month - were deleted from the company’s website on Wednesday.

"We as a company put human rights first, and our stance of valuing diversity is unchanged," he said in a telephone interview. "Whitewashing has never been our intention."

Okabayashi said the ads had prior approval from Osaka's agent.

Nissin became Osaka's corporate sponsor in November 2016.

Additional reporting by AP

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