17609: Converse Defender Tells Everyone To KKKalm Down.

 

Adweek published yet another perspective on the Converse lynching controversy, allowing an author to figuratively hang himself.

The color commentator closed by remarking, “I fully expect this column to incur similar wrath from the sanctimonious corners of the internet where offence is easily taken and blame must then be immediately apportioned.”

Okay. Challenge accepted.

For starters, the author seems oblivious to having assumed a stereotypical role in the matter. That is, he’s the Angry Old White Guy.

It’s a waste of time attempting to school the culturally clueless. Although it’s particularly annoying in this case, as the author boasts having a PhD in Marketing and hypes his MiniMBA programs.

He’s clearly out to educate the masses versus consider the opportunity for a teachable moment. Self-absorption always trumps self-enlightenment, self-improvement, and self-awareness.

The final proclamation underscored his ignorance: “It just requires everyone to calm down.”

Yes, calm down despite once again experiencing the lashing disrespect of an industry historically mired in systemic racism.

Calm down by being told how to respond to offensive material by a bona fide representative of the offenders.

Calm down when even the unintentionally biased avoid accountability as intentionally as card-carrying KKK members.

From Converse to Ed Sheeran, Let’s End These Tedious Apology Tours

Converse, Oxford United, and Ed Sheeran all got dragged through the same ritual for mistakes that were accidental or not even theirs

By Mark Ritson

It was a rotten week for Converse. 

On Sept. 3, the Nike-owned brand posted a new campaign on social media for the Chuck 70 X built around Karina, the very famous singer from K-pop group aespa. 

In the key image she stands in a long white skirt, wearing the shoes and holding a second pair in one hand, framed by a spotlight cut in the shape of the Converse star.

Two weeks passed.

Then, someone noticed that the edge of the star projected onto her skirt made a shape a bit like a Klan hood. And that the shoes hanging from her hand could be read as a body. Then a second image surfaced, from Converse Malaysia, of models on a ladder reaching for sneakers strung from a tree branch. 

The two pictures welded together online into a single verdict.

Converse was now running “the most racist ad of the season.” The work was “shocking,” “abhorrent,” “repugnant.” Even if it was unintentional, the fact that it had gotten past legal, marketing, and leadership was itself an unforgivable offence.

Converse apologized within a day, pulled everything and promised to do better, but not enough for Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter. 

“Lynching is not a creative concept. The Ku Klux Klan is not an aesthetic,” he raged. “This campaign should never have been created, approved or released.” Nike and Converse, he said, should explain publicly how the images had passed through their approval process.

Step back from the heat for a second. Nobody seriously thought, for even a moment, that a Korean photographer shooting a Korean pop star for the Korean market was evoking the Klan. It was an accident. And the instant the claims were made, Converse said sorry, and pulled the work. 

Which prompts a question nobody in the pile-on bothered to ask. 

What else was Converse meant to do here?

It didn’t matter, though, as a wrong had been done, and offence taken. It didn’t matter whether it accidental or not, or whether an apology had already been offered.

Penalties must apply. 

The same script ran in England last week around the same time at Oxford United, a third tier football club. The team was founded in 1893, and a new range of American college-style clothing celebrated the fact with UNITED across the shoulders and a big 93 beneath it.

The collection went live on Sept. 11.

Almost immediately, someone inside the club worked out what a United 93 shirt looks like on the 25th anniversary of 9/11. The range and the posts promoting it were gone within two hours. That should have been the end of it.

It wasn’t. A week later, the club was being roasted on CNN, ESPN, and the Washington Post and had issued a full confession. The shirts “should not have reached the point of sale and we take full responsibility for not undertaking proper due diligence.” Again, nobody suggested any of this was deliberate. And again, the mistake was fixed within hours. But still an apology was required.

Then there is Ed Sheeran

On Saturday night, Sheeran delivered the most extreme entry in this new genre: an apology for something he demonstrably did not do. 

In Philadelphia, before playing a note, he stood in front of 60,000 people and said, “I am making mistakes and I’m so, so sorry.” 

He was apologizing for a rapper’s politics, a stadium owner’s ban, and a promoter’s decision, none of which were his, to an audience that just wanted to hear Shape of You. 

A man who has spent his career steering clear of every political issue going found himself in the middle of the most intractable one on earth. Through no fault of his own he found himself apologizing.

We have reached a very low point. The combination of crisis management, the fragmentation of culture and the insidious effects of social media have turned this decade into an unpleasant, sanctimonious place. Where the only option for innocent people is to eat humble pie with a double serving of reputational rescue slathered on top.

Converse set out to offend no one, and when it did, it made amends the same day. Oxford United made an awful accidental mistake and fixed it immediately, then apologised anyway. Ed Sheeran just wants to play music but must first apologize for things he did not do and does not understand. 

I fully expect this column to incur similar wrath from the sanctimonious corners of the internet where offence is easily taken and blame must then be immediately apportioned. 

Real harm, deliberately done, deserves an apology and consequences, and brands that drag their feet deserve everything they get. A mistake with no intent behind it deserves a correction. That’s all. 

“We’ve withdrawn it” is a complete sentence. It does not need “we understand.” It does not need “we’ll do better.” It just requires everyone to calm down.

17603: The Naked Truth About Sydney Sweeney’s Novig Controversy.

 

Adweek spotlighted a new Sydney Sweeney controversy, noting the actress has gone from inciting ire with her wardrobe to doing likewise with no clothing.

The latest outcry is for a campaign hyping Novig, a sports prediction market and trading app, which protestors complain is insulting female athletes.

Okay, except research indicates most people interested in services like Novig—over 70%—are young males. So, a naked Sweeney is probably perfectly appealing to the target audience.

The American Eagle advertising offended people of color, while the Novig promotion pisses off White women—a group that has historically wielded greater power and influence than minorities.

In short, this scenario might pose more damage to Novig than Sweeney delivered to American Eagle.

Bet on it.

One Year Post-American Eagle Scandal, Sydney Sweeney Sparks Ire by Going Naked for Novig

The ad has received backlash for reversing years of gains for female athletes

By Robert Klara

Last August, Sydney Sweeney broke the internet with American Eagle spots showing her in a too-tight top and struggling with the zipper of her jeans.

In her new campaign for Novig, Sweeney has solved those wardrobe problems: She’s not wearing anything at all.

“Today, we at Novig unveiled out first national brand campaign featuring Sweeney,” the sports prediction app announced on its website, “bringing to life our belief that the best sports trading experience comes from a platform singularly focused on sports.”

The campaign’s title is “Just Sports.” But judging from the heated response from the public, “Just Sex” might have been a better title. 

Though some men have expressed appreciation for the work (one calling it “better than any sports playing right now,”) women have largely responded with disappointment and anger.

The problem isn’t showing skin, per se (advertising is already full of that). But at a time when female athletes have just begun inching toward parity in pay and fame, people feel Sweeney has turned back the clock to the Playboy era.

“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” Australian gold-medalist swimmer Ariane Titmus wrote on Instagram, referring to Sweeney’s ads as “a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft.”

Women outside the sports realm have expressed their dismay, too.

“Every great female athlete has used her platform to create movement, challenge norms, inspire change and make an impact,” AI executive Indigo Haddington responded on Sweeney’s Instagram page. “All she’s done is get paid for what she’s known for: her body.”

It’s unlikely that Novig or Sweeney were under any illusions that this campaign was about “just sports” in a literal sense. What’s beyond dispute is that the campaign takes a page from a playbook written long ago—a legacy that Sweeney herself seems to have nodded to in her response to the backlash: a post with a series of photos showing athletes, including MMA star Ronda Rousey and football beefcake Rob Gronkowski, showing plenty of skin.

Even so, even in advertising, a revealing image is one thing; a lasciviousness message is another. In 1971, National Airlines ran ads starring their leggy flight attendants who invited businessmen to “fly me.” In the early 2000s, Axe’s notorious “Billions” ad depicted a tribe of libidinous women chasing down a man who’d just used Axe body spray.

And while evidence is mixed that sex really increases sales, a 2013 study published in the Journal of Advertising found that “males evaluate ads with sexual appeals significantly more positively than females.” And when it comes to sports betting, one recent estimate suggested that 70% of the bettors are men.

Not that there’s no upside for the 29-year-old Sweeney, who’s not just the femme fatale here; she’s a partner and equity stakeholder, too.

17602: More Amateurish Clubbing Of Callaway And Good Good Golf.

 

MediaPost published yet another perspective swinging at Callaway and Good Good Golf for their misogynistic marketing.

The author insisted the campaign “needs to be studied by anyone in the ad industry.”

Um, not really. There’s nothing new about the cultural cluelessness, circumstances, or root causes displayed by Callaway and Good Good Golf. Unfortunately, the concept and execution fortify a major stereotype about golf; ie, the game is dominated by White men.

The author’s recommendation involves four questions that should have been asked before greenlighting the concept.

Um, not really. Questions should have been asked and answered when writing the brief. And the concept should have been screened against the brief.

Contrary to the author’s contention that the scenario says something about creator campaigns, the issue is more basic.

First, experience, discipline, and mastery of craft are critical for success—it has nothing to do with the titles of anyone behind the production. In today’s arena, creator does not translate to creative director.

Second, insular and exclusive minds generate ignorant ideas. Full stop.

What The Good Good-Callaway Fallout Should Teach Brands About Creator Campaigns

By Kari O’Neill, Op-Ed Contributor

Good Good’s Callaway campaign, which features Good Good co-founder Garrett Clark running down and aggressively tackling female professional golfer Alexis Miestowski to stop her from grabbing his new Good Good-Callaway driver, needs to be studied by anyone in the ad industry.  

This is a profound example of a mistake in creative strategy. The allure of content creators is huge, but brands need to remain hyper-aware of what concepts are strategically sound for their brand. 

What Good Good said inspired the campaign. Good Good may defend the ad by saying it was a parody of the movie Obsession, where the main character buys a supernatural toy that grants him his wish to make his crush fall in love with him — to the point of unsettling horror. Good Good probably stood up in front of executives and claimed that’s how good the driver is — that the audience would be obsessed with it.   

Unfortunately, the response has been the exact opposite, with many calling out its use of domestic violence against women for entertainment. Amidst the backlash, even Clark admitted, it was “a super dumb ad concept, terrible ad in general. Not the greatest idea.”  

Here’s what Callaway needed to ask Good Good before green-lighting the concept.   

Is this pop culture reference relevant for the brand?  

One clear blindspot for Good Good was likely assuming what is popular in its own social circles may not be relevant to Callaway’s audience. Asking if Obsession was in the movie zeitgeist or something the masses would relate to should have been the primary question posed of the concept. Would the ad still resonate if the audience didn’t know about Obsession? Given that Obsession was released in May 2026 nationally and in the summer, a key risk is easily seen that the ad’s reference back to the movie likely would not be top of mind. 
 
Does this reinforce or add to a brand’s story?  

Additionally, a parody can be extremely effective, but only if translated conceptually well from the original creative into an exciting, authentic brand story. In Good Good’s concept, would the target audience see themselves in the story of the parody? Do most people see themselves in a horror film? Probably not. That, in and of itself, should have killed the concept. 
 
Is this the right feeling for the brand?  

Is this ominous feeling the right one Callaway wants people to walk away with after being introduced to this new driver? While the sound design itself clearly is inspired by horror films, it’s clear that the music alludes to harm while being played over an image of a woman being tackled to the ground. Don’t let an internally-focused haze mask the inappropriateness of the concept.  

Who has the power in the story?  

Even if this driver is targeted only to a male audience (which it probably isn’t, but let’s pretend), why did the person tackled have to be a woman? Strategically, what’s the advantage in that versus a man? The answer: absolutely nothing and worse. The hovering over her body while threatening her takes it even further from the corner of potentially funny to utterly unacceptable. 

Because cancel culture is always a risk in the world of creators and brands, brands need to be aware of power dynamics, whether its gender, race, or sexual orientation, among many others.   

The fallout certainly is not what anyone intended or wanted. According to Front Office Sports, three people, including Good Good’s vice president of brand marketing, Jeffrey Lefkovits have been fired. Good Good has lost its sponsorships from Callaway, its PGA Tour event title sponsorship, and its Golf Channel show, Big Break x Good Good.   

Dick’s Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy also pulled Good Good merch off shelves. This is a critical lesson for all brands to take a step back and ensure the right questions are being asked of a creator’s concept. Not enough questioning strategically could be the difference between an exciting launch and a brand nightmare.

16712: Parody For Poverty…?

 

Here’s a delayed reaction to the Women’s Equality Party advertisement spotlighted in a previous post.

 

The responsible agency—Quiet Storm in the UK—purports to being an inclusive and culturally competent firm, yet can’t help but wonder about the thinking behind the concept.

 

After all, Mahatma Gandhi said, “Poverty is the worst form of violence.” To make light of people experiencing poverty and hunger with candy bar references is insensitive at best—and insipid, inane, and inexcusable at least.

14810: KFC Campaign From Spain Should Rest In Piece—12-Piece Bucket, That Is.

Okay, if Día de los Muertos Barbie was controversial, why did KFC in Spain think it was cool to run this Day of the Dead campaign? Would it not have been more appropriate to honor the dead Colonel?

14501: COPD Campaign Is BS.

This pharma campaign for a COPD treatment doesn’t show much compassion or empathy for people suffering from the disease. Wonder what the responsible creative team was smoking to hatch the concept.

13993: Mindless Versus Mindful.

This Canadian campaign for a yoga studio lacks mindfulness and sensitivity—particularly in its negative stereotyping of veterans.

13974: Poundland Behaving Badly.

PRWeek reported on a controversial social media campaign from Poundland—featuring an Elf engaging in sexual and obscene acts—that will undergo an ASA investigation. The retailer is displaying a high degree of insensitivity and ignorance, dismissing disapproving consumers as not getting the joke. Actually, Poundland deserves a pounding—and worse—for its cultural cluelessness. Forget the Elf behaving badly. Poundland is displaying bad behavior, as well as bad judgment for having approved the shit.

Poundland’s controversial Elf ‘boosted Christmas sales’ but faces ASA investigation

By John Harrington

Poundland says its controversial Elf Behaving Badly campaign drove “significant numbers of shoppers” into stores in the week before Christmas.

The retailer has reiterated that it is standing by the campaign following news that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is to investigate the social media activity, saying the number of people who didn’t “get the joke” is “so small”.

The pre-Christmas social media campaign, focused on the Elf on the Shelf product, featured images of the Elf in a series of sexually themed poses.

One image involving Twinings tea (pictured above) — which had the caption “How do you take your tea? One lump or two?” — caused particular controversy. Some criticised its sexual nature, while others described it as harmless fun and fitting for the Poundland brand.

In a new trading update, Poundland said Elf Behaving Badly, as part of the retailer’s “low cost but highly effective marketing strategy”, drove “significant numbers of shoppers” into stores in the week before Christmas. More than 200,000 ‘bad elves’ were sold alongside more than one million elf accessories, the company stated.

Trading in the week to Christmas Eve was £59m, up 20 per cent on the previous year, although there was an extra day of trading in the 2017 pre-Christmas period.

The apparent success of Elf Behaving Badly, in terms of its impact on trading, poses the question of whether the campaign was justified.

80 complaints

Meanwhile, the ASA confirmed to PRWeek that it had received around 80 complaints about the Elf Behaving Badly Twitter posts.

“The general nature of the complaints is that the ads (tweets) are offensive for their depiction of toy characters and other items which have been displayed in a sexualised manner, and are unsuitable to be displayed in an untargeted medium where children could see them,” said a spokesman.

“I can confirm that we have launched an investigation.”

In a statement, Poundland described the controversy as a “storm in a tea cup” and said the complaints “contrasted with thousands of people who said they loved our naughty elf pictures — not least because it reminded them that Britain is famous for the saucy postcard and panto”, the statement said.

“We’re just pleased the number of people who didn’t get the joke is so small.”

13807: High-Tech Hatemongers…?

This Lenovo video seems potentially insensitive given the increase of organized hate groups in places such as Charlottesville and beyond. Why, the Legion looks downright Klan-like with their high-tech hoods. And it doesn’t help that the creative co-conspirators include the ever-White advertising agency Ogilvy and Gentleman Scholar, a production company whose gentlemen-led staff appears to be typically exclusive.

13518: Asinine Assassination.

This Mazda advertisement from Saatchi & Saatchi in Israel should have been shot down in the concept stage.

13442: HP Deaf & Dumb.

Campaign reported HP produced a holiday video featuring a deaf character that is being criticized as patronizing and clueless. Gee, HP Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Antonio Lucio will have to ask his White advertising agencies to add a section to their diversity action plans to include disabled people.

HP holiday ad starring deaf character hits sour note with disability advocates

By Kathryn Luttner

The ad strikes a pitying tone, garbles sign language and has no subtitles, note critics.

The HP film stars two brothers. One is a musician, and the other is deaf. The deaf brother can’t fully participate in his brother’s pastime, so he looks solemnly in the mirror, sulks in the bathtub and angrily plays air guitar in his bedroom. However, the guitarist brother has an HP Spectre x360 laptop, which allows him to transform their basement into a sensory overload experience. Primary-colored light bulbs shine brightly with each stroke of his guitar, giving the deaf brother the chance to “hear” the music, and he cracks a smile for the first time in the nearly three-minute commercial.

The spot, which began airing in 60-, 30- and 15-second versions in the UK and the US last week, is notable for furthering a trend among brands of featuring disabled people in advertising. A young woman with cerebral palsy jokes about her condition’s effect on her sex life in Mars’ UK Maltesers ads from AMV BBDO, and a wheelchair basketball team enjoys pints of Guinness after a game in a US ad for the beer from BBDO, New York. And Microsoft and Spotify have recently featured deaf people in their ads to emotionally demonstrate the power of their product.

But unlike those ads, which have been generally greeted with approval from disability groups, the HP commercial is rubbing some Deaf advocates the wrong way, both for the tone of its content and some glaring technical oversights.

“It’s this narrative of ‘I feel sorry for myself, I can’t hear,’ which is B.S.,” said Tari Hartman Squire, founder and CEO of disability-inclusive, strategic marketing firm EIN SOF Communications. “I believe this ad is out of touch and did not engage the Deaf community in its creation.”

Josh Loebner, director of strategy for Knoxville-based advertising agency Designsensory and owner of the Advertising and Disability blog, agrees: “I’m quite disappointed. They’re continuing to portray the stigma that because that person is disabled, there’s a pity that’s associated with disability, and I would argue that’s just not the case. Creatively, they could’ve gone beyond what they did.”

Worse, the ad slighted the very community it’s supposedly embracing by overlooking some basic factors, said the critics. “There are no captions, and the frame cuts off the signing between the two brothers,” making it impossible for Deaf people to follow the conversation, said Squire. “It’s sloppy at best, destructive at worst.”

But HP and AMV BBDO, the company’s AOR for its personal computer business, said they consulted the deaf community. Deaf actor Joshua Castille plays the main character, and the UK’s Action on Hearing Loss (formerly Royal National Institute of the Deaf) advised on the script. Signing experts taught the actor who plays the musician brother to sign, so he could create an authentic bond with Castille on set.

“Josh can’t take verbal direction, so everything had to be signed to him,” said Tom Suiter, HP Corporate Communications. “It’s a testament to his acting talent that he could take that direction so well and give as powerful a performance as he did.”

Abigail Brown, an account executive on Mars at AMV BBDO, London, expressed her appreciation of the film on Twitter last week. Although she did not work on the agency’s HP spot, she tweeted that it “brings back so many memories of being that deaf kid, trying to get what music sounds like.” Born with a genetic bone condition called osteogenesis imperfecta, Brown began losing her hearing at 8 years old and experienced severe hearing loss by the time she was 14, exactly the same time her friends started really getting into band culture.

“I remember being at a gig in Union Chapel in London and just crying because all my friends were clearly loving the music, and all I could hear was feedback from my hearing aids reacting with the sound system,” Brown said. “My favorite thing to do in a club was to turn my hearing aids off, stand next to the speakers and feel the vibrations. ‘Brothers’ is just a more dramatic, more compelling version of that experience; it demonstrates that aural sound is not the only way we can enjoy music.”

Still, Squire believes the ad is a “huge swing and a miss” from HP, one of the first companies, along with Apple and IBM, to have an accessible technology division.

That BBDO is the agency behind the offending spot surprised Squire, who considers it to be one of the most “disability-savvy” agencies. She also thinks one of the agency’s other commercials—“Learning Sign Language,” which BBDO NY made for Wells Fargo—is a model for Deaf inclusivity. That spot employed wider camera angles to allow viewers to see the signing and included captions.

Michael Kaufer, actor and director of Deaf Film Camp, agrees it’s difficult to see the sign language in the HP spot (though he was able to catch a little bit through lip-reading, he said). But he still gave the brand credit for trying. “On the positive end, it is good to have a deaf actor. If you asked me to do that role, I would do it, but I wouldn’t be comfortable,” he said, comparing it to an AA member having a shot of whiskey in an ad. Sure, feelings of self-pity occur from time to time, but it’s not the image he wants to portray.

Loebner also takes issue with the isolationism. Other than a neighborhood jog to air out his frustrations and being silently annoyed at his brother’s concert, Castille’s character is portrayed as living in a lonely, isolated world. “And it’s not just his house, it’s in the young man’s basement,” he said. “That’s what we think of. If somebody has a disability, they’re probably just in a basement. Clearly, that is not the case!”

In one scene, the deaf character is frustrated at his inability to enjoy his brother’s performance. But that, too, is out of touch with reality, said the advocates, because there’s a growing industry of interpreters at rock concerts. Kendrick Lamar and Iggy Azalea have made headlines for hiring interpreters at Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits music festivals. Metallica, the Weeknd, Tove Lo and Charli XCX have also followed suit. In March, 7UP created a “Concert for the Deaf” with EDM superstar Martin Garrix.

Loebner questions why HP and AMV BBDO opted to strike such a powerless tone: “HP really missed the mark and could’ve done a substantially better job to say, ‘You know what? We don’t want to share a story that isolates this individual that has a disability, but rather, simply, we want to show how that person can engage with a larger narrative where the person with a disability is amongst others with varying abilities at this concert.’”

12939: Swiss Miss.

This campaign from Switzerland manages to present offensive stereotypes for Blacks and Native Americans—let’s give a hand to the idiots responsible for the awfulness!

From Ads Of The World.

12924: Bugging Out.

Why are bug-eyed Alaskans and Canadians less offensive than bug-eyed Africans?

From Ads Of The World.

12816: Baby Got Bic.

Adfreak reported Bic celebrated National Women’s Day in South Africa and wound up offending the audience with the message depicted above. It’s not the first time the pen maker has displayed cultural cluelessness or failed to woo women. Below is Bic’s Black-targeted message for National Women’s Day.

12303: Vonage Not Crazy About JWT.

Adweek reported Vonage dropped JWT after only two years. JWT Global Business Director Ruston Spurlock claimed in a staff memo, “Following the recent departure of Vonage’s CEO, Marc Lefar, the company was asked to dramatically cut costs. As a result, in 2015, Vonage will be shifting to an agency that is more suited for their tactical needs.” Right. The decision to disconnect had nothing to do with the offensive and awful work shat out by the White advertising agency. Sorry, but continuing a relationship JWT would have been a Crazy Generous™ act on the part of Vonage.

Told to ‘Dramatically Cut Costs,’ Vonage Drops Its Lead Creative Agency, JWT

Service could switch to project-based assignments

By Noreen O’Leary

Vonage and lead creative agency JWT are parting ways, two years after the WPP agency won the business from TBWA\Chiat\Day.

The VoIP telephone service spent $123 million in 2013 and $44 million through June of this year, according to Kantar Media.

JWT declined to comment, referring calls to Vonage, where execs could not be reached.

However, in an internal agency memo, JWT’s Ruston Spurlock, global business director on the account, told staffers: “Following the recent departure of Vonage’s CEO, Marc Lefar, the company was asked to dramatically cut costs. As a result, in 2015, Vonage will be shifting to an agency that is more suited for their tactical needs.”

JWT’s relationship with Vonage, initiated in early 2013, will end in February, according to Spurlock’s email.

It’s not clear if the marketer will launch an agency review again or handle assignments on a project basis. Other shops are already working on the business, sources said. Recently, FCB Garfinkel produced a Vonage TV spot called “The Didn’t Hit.”

12079: Get Bitch Off The Bus.

From The Los Angeles Times…

Metro yanks Fox TV show bus ads branded as racist, offensive to women

By Soumya Karlamangla

An advertisement for the new Fox television show “Red Band Society” was abruptly pulled from Los Angeles Metro buses Thursday after activists complained it was racist and offensive.

The ads for the series that premiered this week show actress Octavia Spencer next to the words “Scary Bitch.” Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Mark Littman said the agency decided to remove the ad because that label “denigrates women.”

“That speaks for itself,” Littman said. “That was not acceptable.”

The ads, which have been up for five weeks, will be removed from 190 Metro buses as soon as possible, said Metro spokesman Dave Sotero.

The announcement was made Thursday at a Metro committee meeting where a few dozen protesters showed up to speak against the ads. Among them was Jasmyne Cannick, who said the nickname perpetuates negative stereotypes about black women.

“I don’t know if I find it more offensive because I’m black, or more offensive because I’m a woman,” said Cannick, 36. “I sometimes think our city forgets that there are black people that still live here and call Los Angeles home.”

A Fox spokeswoman said in a statement that network executives were notified Thursday morning of the concerns around the ads and “immediately offered to remove the language.”

“Metro Los Angeles ultimately decided to take down the ads, and we respect that decision,” the spokeswoman said. “We sincerely apologize if the copy was offensive to viewers.”

Littman said though the decision was made public Thursday, Metro chief executive Art Leahy had chosen Wednesday to take down the ads after hearing about the complaints. Littman said CBS Outdoor, which handles the agency’s advertising contract, usually flags possibly questionable ads for review, but these were not flagged.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who also serves on the Metro board, said at the Thursday meeting that he wanted the ads taken down, and that the agency needs to tighten its advertising policy. Garcetti requested that Metro staff report back to the board on ways to avoid a similar situation in the future, said Jeff Millman, Garcetti's spokesman.

11720: Not A Great Day For Honda.

Automotive News reported Honda had to revise a new Civic commercial after people took offense to scenes of protesters marching in front of a federal court building in the bankrupt city of Detroit. Longtime AOR RPA is apparently responsible for the spot—and after having survived a pitch that saw the Acura business reassigned to Mullen in Boston. Gee, there used to be a time when RPA produced breakthrough and award-winning work for the automaker. Actually, the time spanned over 25 years or so.

Honda tweaks national Civic ad that spotlighted Detroit’s ‘pain’

By Sean Gagnier, Automotive News

DETROIT—Honda Motor Co. has tweaked a national commercial for the Civic compact after the original spot caused an uproar in Detroit for featuring images of protesters outside of a federal court in the bankrupt city.

The spot, created by Honda’s chief advertising agency, RPA in Santa Monica, Calif., overlaid images of the bankruptcy court and protestors outside a federal courthouse in Detroit over a blues singer before moving on to show more positive images.

The commercial, entitled “Today Is Pretty Great,” began airing Jan. 8.

While the protestors and court are unrecognizable to most viewers, some Detroiters immediately identified it as the city’s Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse.

In the updated spot, Honda removed footage of the courthouse and protesters.

The court shown in the original commercial is hearing arguments in the city of Detroit’s bankruptcy case.

The city, owing billions of dollars to creditors and faced with a slumping tax base and steady population losses, filed the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy case in July 2013.

City employees and retirees face the prospect of wage, benefit and pension cuts as part of any bankruptcy settlement.

The Detroit News published a story on Friday about the commercial and the negative response it was receiving in Detroit. Just hours later, Honda officials told the newspaper that they would be removing the images of protestors.

“The slight change we made to the commercial simply reflects our desire to remove anything that would get in the way of our uplifting message,” Honda spokesman Steve Kinkade told Automotive News on Saturday. “The original commercial obviously was not intended to represent Detroit or the challenges experienced by the city, its people or our industry.”

The Rev. Charles Williams II, president of the National Action Network’s Michigan chapter, told the News that the original ad was a slap in Detroit’s face.

“They’re using our pain for their pleasure to promote Japanese automobiles while we are suffering in part because of the decline of American automobiles from foreign automakers,” Williams told the paper.

Kinkade said the spirit of the commercial was intended to serve as a positive expression for everyone and the “incredibly positive response” it has generated reflects these intentions.

“Honda has operations and personnel in the city of Detroit and elsewhere in the metro Detroit area and we continue to be actively engaged in a variety of community outreach activities in the city,” Kinkade said. “We’re pleased Honda is playing a role in the continued comeback of the city.”

11596: Missing The Mark.

Seems a little clueless for a Premiere Firearms Auction to mention President John F. Kennedy during the anniversary of his assassination.

11442: Hitting It Out Of The Parc.

French AD: Hey, I’ve got an idea. Let’s put a ceremonial Indian headdress on a wild animal.

French CD: Brilliant.

From Ads of the World.

11408: Time to Pull The Donuts Ads.

From The New York Daily News…

Dunkin’ Donuts apologizes for ‘bizarre and racist’ Thai ad for charcoal doughnut featuring teen girl in ‘blackface’

Dunkin’ Brands chief communications officer Karen Raskopf told the Daily News in a statement that the company is sorry for “any offense it caused” and will be pulling the campaign.

By Beth Stebner / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Looks like this feud was more than skin deep.

Dunkin’ Donuts — who came under fire for a “bizarre and racist” ad featured in Thailand — has issued an apology for the campaign for their new charcoal donut line.

In a statement to the Daily News, Karen Raskopf, the chief communications officer for Dunkin’ Brands, said the campaign for the dark chocolate donuts was “insensitive.”

“On behalf of our Thailand franchise and our company, we apologize for any offense it caused,” the statement continued.

“We are working with our franchaisee (sic) to immediately pull the television spot and to change the campaign.”

The campaign, featuring a stylized Thai woman with a complicated plait of black hair and blackface makeup, shows her holding a black donut with a bite out of it.

“Break every rule of deliciousness,” the slogan reads.

The Thai ad drew ire from thousands, including leading human rights watch groups, who said the campaign was deeply insensitive and indicative of vaudeville shows from the 19th and 20th centuries.

The U.S. branch of the donut chain had said they were working with the Thai branch of Dunkin’ Donuts to pull the entire campaign.

Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director Phil Robertson told the Associated Press: “It’s both bizarre and racist that Dunkin’ Donuts thinks that it must color a woman’s skin black and accentuate her lips with bright pink lipstick to sell a chocolate doughnut.”

Roberts had also demanded that the company offer an apology and immediately yank the print and TV campaign.

But some failed to see the controversy.

“We’re not allowed to use black paint to promote our donuts?” the company’s CEO for Thailand, Nadim Salhani, told the Bangkok Post.

“What if the product was white and I painted someone white, would that be racist? Not everyone is paranoid about racism,” Salhani, a Lebanese expatriate, said.

Her teenage daughter was the young woman featured in the campaign.

“I’m sorry, but this is a marketing campaign, and it is working very well for us.”