A Belvedere social media ad had to be pulled with a hasty apology on Friday after it sparked an outpouring of criticism and vitriol. The ad in question appears above; it depicts a man grabbing a terrified woman towards him with the text "Unlike some people, Belvedere always goes down smoothly."
The ad was pulled within an hour, and a tweeted apology soon followed:
We apologize to any of our fans who were offended by our recent tweet. We continue to be an advocate of safe and responsible drinking.
— Belvedere Vodka (@belvederevodka) March 23, 2012
Naturally, this half-hearted apology wasn't well-received. Forbes staff writer Kashmir Hill got a much more thorough explanation via email that said, in part, "The post is absolutely inconsistent with our values and beliefs and in addition to removing the offensive post we are committed to making sure that something like this doesn’t happen again. As an expression of our deep disappointment and regret, we are making a charitable donation to a women’s support cause."
What do you think of the Belvedere social media ad?
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