Microsoft Ad Dept Steps In It In Europe

It’s really hard to remain politically correct and still be effective in advertising these days. Nowhere is this more evident than in an ad that was shown worldwide, yet modified for use in Poland. The change was not subtle.

From AllThingsD

In the old days, when you wanted to make a photo more palatable for an Eastern European state, you just airbrushed it, and no one complained (out loud).
Now it’s easier than ever alter an image. But it’s harder to get away with it.
Ask Microsoft, which just got caught digitally erasing a black man from a promotional photo and replacing him with a white guy. The original photo ran on a U.S. version of a Microsoft promotional site; the (clumsily) retouched version ended up on a Polish version.
CNET has before and after screenshots

original

Polish

Microsoft (MSFT) has since replaced the Polish photo with the original, and apologized last night.
[Image credit: CNET]

It is too bad that someone did not see this little screw up a bit sooner, but then it would have been best to not have done it. After all, we are supposed to be in a post racial era, and the ‘shopped character bears more than some resemblance to an important United States citizen.

I looked on a few overseas sites, and saw nothing – perhaps this is one of those things they are trying hard to ignore.

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Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich. Napoleon

Interesting point.