The General Motors ad was a promotion for the Chevrolet Trax, a small sport utility vehicle that is sold in countries including Canada, where the ad made its debut on television on March 4. The ad is set in the 1930s and features a modern remix of a song from that era that included references to Chinese people using phrases like “ching ching, chop-suey.”
Advertising Standards Canada questioned General Motors about the ad, prompting the company to change the ad by removing the lyrics from the song while keeping the melody.
Even so, as word of the offensive lyrics spread within the company, G.M. decided to withdraw the ad altogether from Canadian television and on Web sites in Europe, where the vehicle is also sold. The vehicle is not sold or advertised in the United States.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, G.M. apologized for the ad and said, “We are conducting a full review of our advertising approval process to ensure this does not happen again in the future.”
The ad was created by Commonwealth, Chevrolet’s global advertising agency since 2012 and a part of the McCann Worldgroup of the Interpublic Group of Companies.
The second ad withdrawn on Wednesday promoted Mountain Dew, part of the PepsiCo Americas Beverages division of PepsiCo. The ad featured a battered waitress, bandaged and on crutches, trying to identify the person who had hurt her when she ran out of Mountain Dew; the lineup includes African-American men with names like LBoy, Tiny and Beyonte — and a goat.
The waitress, who is white, is stricken with fear as she looks at the men and the goat. A voice-over for the animal says in a menacing tone: “It’s me. You should’ve gave me some more.”
“I don’t think I can do this,” the woman says, visibly frightened. Toward the end, the goat threatens her to “keep your mouth shut.” The woman begins to yell repeatedly, “I can’t do this,” followed by a sequence of shrill “noes” as she hops out of the room. The officer then takes a sip of the beverage.
The ad was created by Tyler Okonma, known as Tyler, the Creator, a hip-hop producer and rap artist. In a statement released Wednesday morning, Mountain Dew apologized for the ad and said it had been removed “from all Mountain Dew channels and Tyler is removing it from his channels as well.” News of the company’s decision was first reported by Adweek.
Mountain Dew has also come under pressure because of its relationship with another rapper, Lil’ Wayne. The company has an endorsement deal with Wayne, who has been criticized over vulgar lyrics that refer to Emmett Till, the African-American teenager whose 1955 murder helped foment the civil rights movement.
On Wednesday, the rapper issued an apology to Mr. Till’s family, adding, “I will not use or reference Emmett Till or the Till family in my music, especially in an inappropriate manner.”
Mountain Dew is the latest brand to deal with controversial hip-hop lyrics. In April, Reebok dropped the rapper Rick Ross after he performed lyrics on the Rocko song “U.O.E.N.O” that referred to drugging a woman and having sex with her.
In March, another auto company, Ford Motor, apologized for an online advertisement in India that featured three bound and gagged women in the rear of a vehicle driven by an actor in the role of Silvio Berlusconi.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/business/media/gm-and-mountain-dew-pull-ads-after-criticism-for-racial-insensitivity.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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