17553: Equinox And Its White Advertising Agency Are Sweating Over Racist Workout.

Advertising Age reported on an Equinox campaign featuring imagery publicly condemned as racist Asian stereotypes.

Based on the corporate response, Equinox apparently agrees with the protestors, as the ads are being fully pulled and official apologies have been formally posted.

The responsible White advertising agency—Angry Gods—also admitted to cultural cluelessness. Plus, Angry Gods pledged charitable donations to the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. Expect scholarships to follow in performative style.

Ironically, the campaign theme reads, “Question Everything But Yourself.”

Equinox and Angry Gods failed to question everything while executing the work. And the co-conspirators will probably not question themselves for being insular, insensitive, ignorant racists.

Equinox pulls AI ad after creators call out racist Asian stereotypes

By Gillian Follet

Equinox, the luxury fitness company, has pulled an AI-generated out-of-home ad and apologized after dozens of Asian content creators accused it of perpetuating racist stereotypes.

The ad, part of a campaign that broke in January, featured an AI-generated image of an Asian woman’s head mounted on a metal rod, with a hand pressing a thumb between her lips; the image was juxtaposed with a real photo of a different woman, including her exposed torso. Over the past two weeks, creators across Instagram and TikTok have condemned the ad as dehumanizing and fetishistic.

“Asian women have already been treated as dolls, submissive sex machines, anime girls, robots, decorative objects [and] mail-order fantasies for decades now,” said artist and content creator Eunnuri Lee in a video posted Friday. “We are constantly positioned as hypersexual beings and also not fully human.”

Lifestyle creator @relishwithreese called the ad “so disturbing” in a video uploaded earlier this month, questioning what message Equinox was attempting to convey. Soogia, a food creator with nearly 3 million total followers who uses only her first name online, called the ad a “literal embodiment” of the sexualization and objectification of Asian women. And Ed Choi, a creator and podcaster, went further, directly calling out Equinox’s chief marketing and digital officer, Bindu Shah, in a video criticizing the ad for “overly sexualiz[ing] Asian women.”

Though conversation around the ad spiked over the past two weeks, it originated as part of the company’s “Question Everything But Yourself” campaign, launched in January. Made with Los Angeles-based design and strategy agency Angry Gods, the ads addressed the proliferation of AI imagery online by pairing absurd AI creations—Pope Francis in a puffer jacket, a high-heel-wearing Justin Trudeau wrapped around a stripper pole—with images of real people. The idea was to position human strength as a counterpoint to digital fakery.

The ads ran across social, digital and out-of-home placements.

Equinox told creators in comments and DMs last week that it was “in the process” of “fully remov[ing]” the ad from OOH placements. The ad has been taken down from 10 Equinox club locations across New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco where it was still on display, an Equinox spokesperson confirmed today.

“This campaign was designed to explore the false realities created by AI and social media, including fake leaders, fake bodies, fake food and fake robots,” another spokesperson for the company said in an email. “While that was the creative goal, we recognize there was an unintended impact, and we apologize for that. We made the decision more than a week ago to fully remove the image—a choice guided by our core values of inclusivity, mutual respect and empathy, which ensure the Equinox community is a place where everyone is welcome.”

The agency, Angry Gods, also apologized for the offending image in an Instagram post shared Friday, then edited the statement the same day after facing criticism for initially referring to the backlash as a “discussion.” 

      

“Whatever we intended, an artificial, eroticized Asian woman’s face is not a neutral symbol of ‘fake,’” the agency stated. “It carries a history, and we should have seen that before the work ever shipped.” The agency will be donating $5,000 to the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, with agency founder and CEO Krish Menon contributing an additional $5,000 to the organization, Angry Gods stated.

Some OOH displays from the campaign, including the ad at the center of the backlash, had remained up for months in cities such as New York before Equinox removed them. While some creators had occasionally discussed the ad since it went up in January, Equinox earlier this month posted a video of its gym on New York’s Bond Street, where the ad was prominently displayed in one of the windows. The video has since been deleted.

Several of the creators who criticized the ad, including Choi, pointed out that the unsettling image of an Asian woman’s disembodied head didn’t match the surreal yet playful tone of the rest of the campaign.

“Hey, Equinox, if you want me to ‘question everything,’ I’m gonna ask: why the f*ck did you … think [this] was a good idea?” Lee said in her video. “Why did you need to use an Asian woman’s body? And I’ll also ask this: who the f*ck was in that marketing room?”

The controversy around the ad echoes the backlash American Eagle faced almost a year ago, when its Sydney Sweeney campaign was criticized as racist and overly sexual. American Eagle stood by the campaign, with Craig Brommers, the retailer’s chief marketing officer, later telling Ad Age that the polarizing campaign actually boosted the brand’s business.

17409: Pizza Hut Pasta Campaign Is Traditional BS.

 

This Pizza Hut campaign from Publicis Middle East in Dubai, UAE, is explained as follows:

 

Pizza Hut launched a new pasta range. But an American fast-food brand that doesn’t even exist in Italy isn’t exactly the most credible voice on pasta. So we went after approval from the ultimate experts: Italians.

The problem? Our pasta doesn’t follow tradition. Traditional Italians would never approve it. But we used them anyway.

 

Um, this concept probably should not have been approved.

17327: On Bringing Back Black Blasts From The Past.

The previous post on Dos Equis spotlighted a common practice among White advertising agencies, whereby iconic campaign characters are revived and/or resuscitated to reinvigorate a brand.

 

The reintroductions include gushing from CEOs, CMOs, and CCOs, revealing sales were best during promotions of the past, the updated critter will ignite a boring category, the public demanded the reappearance, blah, blah, blah.

 

Has anyone considered bringing back Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Rastus?

 

The same marketing criteria mentioned above can surely be applied to the famed triumvirate.

 

Hell, Honey Bunches of Oats once coaxed Diana Hunter—the Honey Bunches of Oats Lady—out of retirement.

 

Who’s next—Mia the Land O’Lakes Native American Maiden, the Frito Bandito, and Annie the Chicken Queen?

 

Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war!

17276: Mafioso Santa Is No No No.

This Patreon campaign featuring Wiseguy Santa delivers clichéd and contrived cultural cluelessness.

 

Oddly enough, Patreon Community Guidelines allegedly frown on using stereotypes—as well as engaging with crime and criminal activity.

17200: Stereotypical Storytelling…?

Oniria\TBWA in Paraguay is responsible for this ueno Bank campaign explained as follows:

 

To announce Paraguay’s return to a World Cup after 15 years, ueno Bank, the official sponsor of the Paraguayan national football team, launches a film where Paraguay’s comeback is told as a nightmare—a dramatization from the perspective of countries that faced tough matches against Paraguay in past World Cups.

 

Okay, but the use of cultural stereotypes is kinda scary.

17191: Microaggressions, Microcelebrations, Mariachis.

Campaign published a perspective titled and subtitled, “What brands still miss about Hispanic audiences beyond Hispanic Heritage Month—There’s a huge opportunity for brands willing to see past the characterizations and tired tropes.”

 

Admittedly didn’t bother to read beyond the headline and subhead, as viewing the content requires a paid subscription.

 

Besides, perusing the piece in its entirety is not necessary, as the viewpoint has been delivered regularly before, during, and after every Fill-In-The-Minority Heritage Month for decades.

 

The wrap-up usually implores, “Celebrate Fill-In-The-Minority culture during Fill-In-The-Minority Heritage Month—and all year long!”

 

Then brands respond by ignoring Fill-In-The-Minorities for the other eleven months or tossing them occasional crumbs.

 

And in these anti-DEIBA+ times, feigning interest for even a single month—or single day—rarely happens.

 

Adios.

17116: Hot Wheels Driving Stereotypes…?

 

Not familiar with Netflix series Hot Wheels Let’s Race, but a city transit bus tagged with “Ain’t Fare” ain’t right.

17108: Miller Genuine Draft Genuinely Moldy.

 

BBDO Zagreb in Croatia is responsible for this Miller Genuine Draft Break The Mold campaign. Um, spotlighting urban/street/Black culture in stereotypical style is hardly breaking any mold.

17071: Freshpet Is Not Good, Fellas.

This Freshpet commercial serves up Italian-Americans as Mob stereotypes—and the result is culturally clueless dog shit.

17058: TG(AI)F.

Disappear for 1 month and become a master of AI Tools…?

 

Then use your masterful skills to find new employment to replace the job that was eliminated by AI.

 

Or create stereotypical images like the one in this banner.

16910: Biggest Brands Deliver Biggest Brand Fails.

Like Advertising Age, Campaign presented Biggest Brand Fails of 2024, including culturally clueless contenders not mentioned by Ad Age:

 

Apple

 

Apple hit a stumbling block this year with two campaigns that failed to land as intended. The first, “The Underdogs: OOO (Out of Office)” was part of Apple’s “Apple at Work” series and featured a comedic storyline of a scrappy American team navigating their first overseas business trip in Thailand. The film, created by Apple’s in-house team, highlighted how the brand’s suite of products—Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro—helped the team overcome challenges like translation, 3D design, and remote collaboration.

 

Despite its polished production and humorous tone, the ad drew criticism for its portrayal of Thailand as a backdrop for Western business antics, with viewers even saying it made the “the brand feel old.” Some noted that the setting and local culture were reduced to clichés, with little integration into the storyline beyond being a convenient location. Critics accused Apple of perpetuating stereotypes, with some suggesting that the ad failed to authentically represent Thailand or engage with its vibrant culture.

 

Nike

 

Nike’s Olympics campaign, “Winning Isn’t for Everyone,” narrated by the unmistakable Willem Dafoe and starring sports legends like Kylian Mbappé, Serena Williams, and LeBron James, was supposed to be a showstopper. Instead, it served up a marketing flop in China thanks to one baffling creative choice—a close-up shot of a Chinese table tennis player licking her paddle. Yes, licking.

 

Social media went into meltdown mode, with Weibo logging over 3,000 mentions—62% of them scathing. Critics didn’t hold back, calling the ad “cringe” and accusing Nike of peddling stereotypes. While some defended the ad as an artistic choice, others questioned why anyone thought zooming in on paddle-licking would inspire anything but secondhand embarrassment. The backlash has left Nike scrambling for answers. The campaign became a classic example of creativity gone rogue. For a brand that prides itself on pushing boundaries, Nike was reminded that not every bold shot needs to make it off the storyboard. The moral of the story? If your campaign includes licking anything sports-related, just don’t.

Brands historically heralded as the platinum standard garner Biggest Brand Fails awards…? Yep, the apocalypse is upon Adland.

16801: TGIFatherless.

 

The Guardian published a perspective on the controversy sparked by a Heinz advertisement featuring arguably racist stereotypes. In short, Heinz took the “pa” out of pasta sauce, which left a bad taste in viewers’ mouths.

 

When a Heinz advert features racist stereotypes to sell pasta sauce, it’s vital to speak out. So I did

 

By Nels Abbey

 

I’m glad that an ad apparently minimising the role of Black fathers has drawn an apology. It’s lazy thinking we just don’t need

 

It’s Black History Month, one dedicated to reclaiming narratives. It also happens to be a month before the 140th anniversary of the plotting phase of white supremacy’s most enduring set of crimes: the Berlin conference (in which it was decided which European nations, empires or monarchs would get to own which parts of Africa and, effectively, enslave the population). Complementing and continuing the catastrophes that emerged from the industrialised kidnapping and enslavement of Africans in the Americas before it, the Berlin conference unleashed a slew of compounding tragedies, confusions, narratives and stereotypes, which have led us down the years to the stereotype of single parenthood, and notably the “deadbeat father”.

 

Fast-forward to last Friday. Standing on the Victoria line platform of Vauxhall tube station, I noticed an advert for a new “family size” pasta sauce being flogged by Heinz. It is a wedding shot, in which a joyful-looking dark-skinned Black woman in her wedding dress is clutching a fork of pasta in tomato sauce, seemingly unconcerned that sauce has dripped down her dress. So far, so innocuous. Sat beside her is a man you assume is the groom (who is white) and a rather bewildered-looking older Black woman you could reasonably guess is her mother. On her other side are two older, and also apparently bewildered, white people who would reasonably be assumed to be the parents of the groom. Admittedly I had to look a few times to ensure I wasn’t seeing things. I wasn’t. Where was her father, whom the average person – looking at her – would assume to be Black? Nowhere to be seen. Not at the top table. Not anywhere.

 

Most might not have noticed. That’s probably how the image – which Heinz, post-social media storm, has apologised for – got that far.

 

Looking at it on the tube, I reflected on how much the concept of the deadbeat or missing father has cost us. It’s not that it doesn’t happen. Everything’s Gonna Be Alright (Ghetto Bastard), a furious anti-deadbeat father record by rappers Naughty By Nature sprung to mind. It was a song I knew line for line as a 10-year-old former foster child before I met my own biological father.

 

But that detachment isn’t a given. And it certainly shouldn’t be the basis for an ad executive’s lazy assumption. On Friday night, I tweeted a line from a song by the rapper Nas, Daughters, (“for my brothers with daughters”) – alongside the picture of the Heinz ad, before adding that Black girls, believe it or not, have fathers too. It rightly touched a nerve. 

A key legacy of centuries of racist assault on Black people has been Black families struggling to stay together. Yet a statistic is a liar’s best friend, and statistics on single parenthood in Black communities are a bigot’s closest ally. Admittedly, the stats on single parenthood look notably vicious for Black communities. The figure in England and Wales increased from 48.5% in 2011 to 51.0% in 2021.

However, in Black communities, the synonymising of single parenthood with deadbeat fatherhood is an error. As in all communities, it is not uncommon for Black or multi-racial parents to break up or to be unmarried, but it is increasingly unusual for Black fathers not to play a super-active role in the lives of their children. The stereotypes we inherited from yesteryear are yet to be updated and are crowded out by statistics that don’t paint a full picture.

 

Thanks in large part to intra-communal accountability endeavours for Black fathers on an interpersonal, collective (see organisations such as Dope Black Dads) and cultural level (more musical examples include Parity by AKS), we are living through the aftershock of the era of the deadbeat Black father. So we are left with no choice but to challenge the Heinz advert and that stereotype.

 

We know that outrage sells. As does subtle racism. And in the main, no publicity – especially for a billion-dollar entity like Heinz – is bad publicity. But I will also say that, compared with other media, advertising has really tried to reflect and represent modern, multicultural and diverse Britain, especially at a time when it is under political and, as we saw in this summer’s riots, literal physical assault.

 

Advertising in Britain formed a force field against the culture war assaults of the years of Tory rule. And money talks: diversity has proven to be a very good (profitable) marketing and advertising tool. I view the Heinz ad as more cock-up than corporate Klansman conspiracy, and its apology for “unintentional perpetuated negative stereotypes” – assuming it is taking the posters down and doing something positive to challenge those stereotypes – is to be welcomed.

 

But let this be a lesson. From advertising to TV to reality, what must always be remembered is that Black girls, like Black boys, have fathers too. Keeping Black men off the table does no one any good.

16729: Apple Fails To Think Different About Thailand…?

Campaign reported Apple pulled an advertisement that was criticized for its “outdated and stereotypical” depiction of Thailand.

 

Interestingly enough, numerous sources indicate Apple has been producing devices in Thailand, so the technology company should’ve known better.

 

Guess Apple thought it was still 1984…?

 

Apple pulls ad following criticism for ‘outdated and stereotypical’ portrayal of Thailand

 

By Marianne Calnan and Shawn Lim

 

‘The underdogs: OOO (out of office)’ received backlash from advertising experts and on social media.

 

Apple has pulled an ad set in Thailand after it faced criticism from adland and on social media for its portrayal of the nation.

 

“The underdogs: OOO (out of office)”, which Campaign understands was created in-house and not by TBWA\Media Arts Lab, showed four characters, known as the underdogs, tackling workplace crises with Apple devices and software.

 

The film has now been made private on Apple’s YouTube channel, alongside the other four spots in the brand’s “Apple at work” series, which launched in 2019.

 

The latest ad portrayed the characters embarking on a work trip to Thailand, racing against the clock to find a packaging factory that can produce a million custom boxes for their demanding boss and client. They are also seen riding in a tuk-tuk, engaging with locals and staying in a dilapidated hotel in Bangkok.

 

The 10-minute ad was shared on Apple’s social media platforms.

 

Apple said it meant no offence and had collaborated with a local production company on the film. “Our intent was to celebrate the country’s optimism and culture, and we apologise for not fully capturing the vibrancy of Thailand today,” Apple said in a statement. “The film is no longer being aired.”

 

Campaign has contacted the tech brand for further comment.

 

Despite the backlash, Thailand’s prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, warmly received the ad, and the video had garnered more than six million views before being pulled down by Apple today (2 August).

 

Speaking to Campaign US, Jeremy Chia, co-founder, chief executive and chief creative officer at Goodstuph Thailand, said Apple’s “The underdogs” series has always had an element of exaggeration. He noted that it was unfortunate that it chose to exaggerate aspects of Thailand this time.

 

Chia said: “Does it make the country feel backward? Yes. Was the ad doing it for a comedic effect? Also, yes. Advertising in Thailand thrives on not taking itself too seriously, but the sentiment seems that it wasn’t the place for Apple to do it. It’s the old adage – only we have the right to laugh about ourselves, so don’t you dare do it, international brand. One young Thai colleague I spoke to told me that watching the ad makes the brand feel old, which I thought was interesting.”

 

Jan Harling, chief executive of Virtus Asia, said that while some of the elements shown in the film do exist, it fails to portray modern Thailand accurately, relying on outdated and inaccurate stereotypes. He noted that the work “fuels inaccurate perceptions” about the country, as many viewers may not recognise it as a parody.

 

Harling added: “The ad’s simplistic image does not depict the country’s continuous evolution, placing it decades into the past. While Apple may have intended to cater to the stereotypical image many have of Thailand, this approach does a disservice to the country’s recent developments and the evolution of Thailand.”

 

In May Apple apologised following criticism of its “Crush” ad, which showed creative objects including musical instruments and pots of paint being crushed in a hydraulic press to form an iPad Pro.