Twitter storms about badly judged adverts are nothing new, and this morning it is the hapless marketing department of dating website Match.com who are probably avoiding their Twitter notifications like the plague this morning after an advert they placed on the London Underground has riled people up.
The dating site used a picture of a strikingly beautiful woman (what else?) with red hair and a spattering of freckles as the basis behind their advert. The problem is the tagline.
"If you don't like your imperfections, someone else will." the advert reads, implying, of course, that red hair and freckles are "imperfections".
We're pretty sure the kids call this a 'fail'.
Since the adverts went up, commuters in London have been quick to retaliate, telling Match.com exactly what they think of it. One blogger, Ginger Parrot, described how her "blood is boiling" at the sight of the poster, adding: "Match.com, thanks for the confidence boost, but we won't be signing up."
And others have taken to Twitter to vent their rage over the insensitive advert, labelling it "awful" and "offensive":
The Advertising Standards Authority has confirmed it has received about "half a dozen" complaints about the ad, telling the Guardian: "We're currently carefully assessing the complaints to establish if there appear to be any grounds for action."
And a spokesperson for Match.com spokesperson said in statement:
"We have taken note of the response about our advert concerning freckles. Following this feedback, we are in discussions with our relevant partners about removing these posters as soon as possible. "We believe freckles are beautiful. The intention of our 'Love Your Imperfections' campaign is to focus on the quirks and idiosyncrasies that people wrongly perceive to be imperfections – this can include freckles, a feature that is sometimes seen as an imperfection by people who have them. We're sorry if this ad has been interpreted in a different way and we apologise for any offence caused, this was not our intention. "Our overall campaign is all about celebrating perceived physical and behavioural imperfections, from having freckles to being chubby, messy or clumsy. The adverts are designed to encourage everyone to be proud of their individuality, as the features that make us unique are often the ones that make us most attractive."
So there you go. 12 complaints and a few angry tweets really can change the world.
