Is This Nivea Ad Racist?

The internet was on fire earlier this week after the skincare line Nivea’s advertisement for their “Re-Civilize Yourself/Look Like You Give a Damn” campaign that was featured in Esquire magazine went viral.
In the ad, a clean-cut black man is holding the head of an angry looking black man with an afro and beard looking as if he is about to throw it. In big, bold letters the ad said “Re-Civilize Yourself,” under another set of words that says, “Look Like You Give a Damn.”
Nivea issued an official apology via Facebook, calling the ad “inappropriate and offensive”:

“Thank you for caring enough to give us your feedback about the recent “Re-civilized” NIVEA FOR MEN ad. This ad was inappropriate and offensive. It was never our intention to offend anyone, and for this we are deeply sorry. This ad will never be used again. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values of our company.”

A source tells Clutch magazine that the campaign was thought up by a black man, name Cliff Carson VP of PMK BNC, a New York company that handles the branding and marketing for Nivea:

“The VP in charge of the entire marketing campaign for the men’s skin care line is a Black male who mainly got in the position to put Blacks on a cosmetics branding pedestal – hence the brand now having a Black spokesmodel.”

This isn’t the only ad in the campaign. There is also a photo with a white male that features the text, “Sin City is No Excuse to Look Like Hell.”
Now that the word is out that a black man was behind the ad and there was a similar ad that featured a white man, is it still considered racist?