Microsoft apologizes for gaffe in online ad

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Microsoft apologizes for gaffe in online ad
By Patrick Oppmann CNN, Wed August 26, 2009

" http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/TE...crosoft.ad.jpg

SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) -- Software giant Microsoft apologized Wednesday for the apparent bad judgment that led to the head of a black model being swapped for that of a white model in an online advertisement.

The ad -- which showed three business people, one Asian, one white and one black -- was altered on Microsoft's Web site for Poland to place the head of a white man on a black man's body.

"We apologized, fixed the error and we are looking into how it happened," said Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman.

He said that because the company was still reviewing how the swap occurred he could not comment further.

On Microsoft's official page on the social network site Twitter, a posting calls the swap "a marketing mistake" and offers "sincere apologies."

The business Web site CNET.com, which first published reports of the swap, wrote that the change in models may have been made with the "racially homogeneous" Polish market in mind. "

:source: Source: http://us.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/26/mi...ffe/index.html

Apparently the original version of the ad was used in several other countries but was amended for the Poland adverts. To me it says more about the Pols than that of Microsoft. They were marketing their product for the intended audience. Big deal.

If that happened in America it would probably garner a lot more attention (and some lawsuits, just cause it's America). I guess MS marketing thinks Poland's racist...

Had they done a better job, spent a little bit more, they wouldn't have such a huge fiasco like now..it's just another shortsighted decision on their part.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by djerholler69

Had they done a better job, spent a little bit more, they wouldn't have such a huge fiasco like now..it's just another shortsighted decision on their part.

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Yup, they could have just taken an entirely separate picture and avoided the whole mess.

Yeah i've also noticed in hip hop music videos that you'll barely see a true ebony video vixen,the chics are always either latino or colored somewhere on the fair side of caramel.Kinda says alot too about how dark is perceived even in the black community.So I don't think its fair to go all out on microsoft over this...especially over poland.