Toothpaste ad is accentuating African poverty stereotypes

There is this toothpaste advert running on local TV stations where this woman is telling a story of a young boy who came to school without brushing his teeth.

The boy reasons that he was waiting for his brother to finish using the toothbrush. This advert is not just a lie but an insult to African dignity. 

I’ve lived in poverty-stricken areas of this country and I can authoritatively say the whole advert is nothing more than neo-colonial melodrama.

In most poverty-stricken areas of this country, children brush using sticks (broken from certain trees).

Eucalyptus is one of the trees most often used. So this notion that a boy couldn’t brush his teeth that morning because he was waiting for his brother to use a toothbrush is simply a lie.

The company should withdraw the advert and apologise for amplifying African poverty stereotypes. Yes, there is poverty on this continent, but there is also reason and dignity on this continent.

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}