Very bad to say you have to be white to be perfect

Advert for Malaysian beauty chain sparks fury

The ad was about the legend of Dayang Senandong, which is Malay folklore about a lady 'cursed with black skin but blessed with a beautiful voice'.

In the story, a wealthy merchant falls for an enchanting female voice.

In the typical misogynistic hue of many fairy tales, a woman's worth is intricately tied to her beauty, so he summons all of the 'beauties' of the area to come so that he can find his mystery woman.

After much trial and error, he hears the voice, and pulls back her veil only to discover that her face is (quite clearly painted) black.

He recoils in shock. 'Where are the lights?' he asks, before saying in disbelief, 'she is actually dark.'

The scene, approximately nine minutes into the video, has shocked audiences. All the other women in the video also look shocked and the woman with the beautiful voice turns around and leaves.

But when the winner of the 'legendary Cun Raya 2017' contest is announced, to all of the contestants' surprise, the enchanting singer with the 'blackface' wins the contest.

But this time when she removes her veil her skin is white. She said she wanted to 'test his sincerity' by painting her face.

'I am not dark, in fact I am flawless,' she says.

He immediately asks her to marry him.

Peopl have been outraged by the advert and have shared their thoughts on social media.

Resna Begum wrote on Twitter: 'Watsons Malaysia's blackface Raya ad is absolutely disgusting let's boycott this brand worldwide #Watsonsmy #WorldwideBoycott.' 

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In most of Asia, light-colored skin is more prestigious.  In India, you can tell how rich a man is not by the color of his skin but by the color of his wife's skin.  Rich Indian men marry women with nearly white skin, what Indians call "wheaten" skin. So the advertisement simply reflected the native values of the culture concerned.