The use of a picture of Oscar-winning Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman to advertise a skin treatment regimen compelled a hospital in Kerala’s Kozhikode to apologise.
When photographs of their commercial leaked on social media, they were widely criticised and received a lot of backlash on social media because of its racist overtones.
The now-deleted advertisement used a photo of the 84-year-old actor to promote a variety of treatments, including the removal of skin tags, warts, and milia, among others. The advert said ““Get your skin tags, DPNs, warts, milia, molluscum and comedones removed through simple procedures easily in a single visit.”
T Sunil, marketing head of Vadakara Cooperative Hospital, in an interview with The Indian Express. said that, “A dermatologist joined our Out Patient Department recently. In order to publicise that there are skincare treatment facilities at the hospital, the board was installed and kept there for four days. A local designer created it. Due to lack of knowledge and seriousness, the board was carelessly installed in front of the OPD. A person inquired why Nelson Mandela’s photo was printed for the ad. After that, we removed it on Saturday.”
(Freeman portrayed former South African President Nelson Mandela in the 2009 Hollywood film Invictus.)
“However, the ad went viral on social media by Sunday. We extended our apology on Facebook. We understand that Freeman is a great artist, admired by many people across the world. We sincerely say sorry for the lack of knowledge,” he added.