Last year, Rihanna signed on as the face of Nivea, which also sponsored a good chunk of her latest world tour. This always seemed like an odd move on the part of the skin care product brand, which generally projects a very wholesome vibe throughout their advertising campaigns. In sharp contrast, Rihanna has become increasingly well known for posing for obnoxiously trashy vacation photos, in which she often is spotted drinking and doing drugs, and then she usually posts those photos herself all over her social media profiles with her everpresent #thuglife tag. Never mind that the paps have caught her swanning about in see-thru tops and that she’s taken to boozing so hard that she ends up hospitalized.

Well, Nivea has apparently woken up from their deluded slumber, and their new advertising priorities have been reenforced by Stefan Heidenreich, the new head of Nivea’s parent company. According to Heidenreich, Rihanna’s a terrible fit for the brand and is far “too sexy” to represent the brand in the future. No kidding, right?

She’s known for her sexy attitude, raunchy outfits and outrageous behaviour. So it comes as little surprise that Rihanna’s advert for Nivea has been deemed too sexy to front campaigns for the skincare brand.

The star appeared in a series of adverts for the firm, which was a sponsor of her world tour last year, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the company.

And now cosmetic tycoon Stefan Heidenreich – the new head of Nivea’s parent firm, Beiersdorf – has told German media that the singer should have been considered a “no go” for the brand’s family image. “The advert starring Rihanna was a no go. I do not understand how Nivea can be brought into association with Rihanna.”

In one ad, a family is seen moisturising with Nivea while Rihanna’s sultry hit California King Bed plays in the background. The original video of the song shows the star wearing stockings and lingerie writhing with a man on a bed. Heidenreich added: “Nivea is a company which stands for trust, family and reliability.”

When Nivea signed up the star last year they said they were “very excited” to have her on board. Nivea board member Markus Pinger said in a press release at the time: “Over the past 100 years, Nivea has been an iconic skin-care brand across the world. Rihanna is a music icon and her digital footprint will help us bring our anniversary celebration to consumers wherever they are.”

In July, Forbes magazine said Rihanna’s sponsorship deal with Nivea had helped propel her number three in their top 30 of the richest celebrities under 30 with earnings of $53million in just 12 months.

[From Daily Mail]

The original German article goes even further, and for some reason, both the Mail and Digital Spy have left out the best language, which is as follows: “Heidenreich’s judgement: ‘Rihanna was a No-Go.’ What does the US star, who has been linked to drugs and party excesses, have ‘to do with the core values of Nivea’?, he asked.”

Indeed, it’s hard to believe that Nivea ever decided that employing Rihanna as a spokesperson was a good idea for their company, but it’s also odd that they’re just now figuring this out. Sure, Rihanna’s behavior has accelerated quite a bit lately, but it’s not like she was some virginal ingenue who has only just started boozing and acting trashy in public.

Here’s the advert spot mentioned by the Mail, which shows babies and pregnant bellies receiving the benefits of the skin cream:

In sharp contrast, here’s the self-projected image of Rihanna. We all know she’s trashy, and she knows it too. In fact, she embraces it, and more power to her if that’s how she wants to live. But I guess she needs to find some sponsors who want to project that image as well.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, Nivea, Facebook, and Pacific Coast News