After facing calls for a boycott for failing to mention Israel on its website yet mentioning the PA, Nivea corrects the error.
After facing boycott calls for failing to mention Israel on its website, yet mentioning the Palestinian Authority, a famous cosmetics company has corrected the error and launched an Israeli site.
The incident began when Israeli-American actress and model Becky Griffin visited the website of German cosmetics giant Nivea and could not select Israel as her location. She was surprised, however, to discover that while Israel is not listed as a choice, the Palestinian Authority is.
Dismayed, Griffin wrote a letter to Nivea which she published on her Facebook page, as well as on Nivea Israel’s Facebook page.
“I don't support racism and I don’t support Anti-Israeli propaganda,” Griffin wrote. “I was very surprised to find out that according to you, my country, Israel is good enough to sell your products in, but not worth being a part of the rest of the world. When asked to select my location on your website www.nivea-international.com/pages/int-country-selection I couldn't do so.”
Griffin noted that “Israel, an entity recognized by the UN as a country, does not appear on your website. The Palestinian Authority however, appears, even though it is not recognized as a country.
“I would love to understand why you choose to eliminate us off the map of the world?” she continued. “Such behavior reminds me the history of your country, Germany, and the Nazi Regime. Or is it the Iranian regime that denies the Holocaust and calls to wipe us off the map that you support? Is it the terror groups such as Hamas, Hizbullah and IHH to name just a few that you wish to keep happy? Or is [it] basic business - there are more ‘Arab customers’ than Israelis, so you would rather risk losing our business than theirs?”
Griffin added, “I will never buy your products, and I will make sure that others don’t either.
“I simply cannot believe that I am even writing such a letter in the year 2011,” she said. “You should be ashamed of yourselves and yes, this will not go away quietly, or be ignored.”
Griffin’s letter received many responses from Israeli users who expressed support and promised to distribute the letter further. On Thursday, Nivea suddenly added Israel as a location option. Users who choose Israel as their location are now redirected to Nivea's Israel site, which is under construction.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/146381#.TjtW0WF5uSo