JOHANNESBURG: Consumer goods giant Unilever on Thursday agreed to pull all its TRESemme hair products from South African retail stores for 10 days, bowing to calls for action over a "racist" advertisement.

Local pharmacy chain Clicks sparked outrage last week after it marketed a TRESemme product with images describing the hair of a black woman as "dry & damaged" and the hair of a white blonde woman as "fine & flat".

Activists from South Africa's radical leftwing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have been picketing outside Clicks stores across the country since Monday, calling on the chain to shut down for several days. A handful of South African retailers have meanwhile heeded calls to boycott TRESemme.