Nivea has pulled an advertisement with the tagline "white is purity" after it was the subject of a foreseeable backlash, and (because it is 2017) subsequently became a favourite of alt-right social media users.

The skincare brand shared the advertisement, for its "invisible" antiperspirant, to its Facebook page on Friday.

Nivea pulled an ad using the tagline "White is purity" when it became widely circulated on social media accounts for white supremacists. Credit:Nivea/Facebook

It showed a photograph of a woman with dark hair sitting in a white robe, taken from behind.