Did you miss me?
You would think after all these years we would have moved past the point were brands make egregious lapses in judgement knowing full well the wrath of social media outrage will rain down upon them like a ton of bricks. But, apparently, no.
A Philippine bank, BDO Unibank has apologized for an ad it ran which made light of environmental issues. In the ad, which carries the headline “Save the environment or save up to see places,” a man can be seen holding a sign that reads, “Stop deforestation” behind a woman who is enjoying her travels. The word “or” is placed between the two.
The bank has since apologized for the ad in a Facebook post which read,”We apologize that the Ads have been very insensitive. The posts have since been removed and we have taken steps to resolve the matter internally.”
We apologize that the Ads have been very insensitive. The posts have since been removed and we have taken steps to resolve the matter internally.
Posted by BDO Unibank on Friday, November 13, 2015
Predictably, and with good reason, social media outrage filled Facebook comments including mocking the brands automated bot which responded to every tweet with, “Thanks for your feedback.”
The ad has been pulled by the bank but not before screenshots were taken preserving the idiocy for time immemorial.
Environmental advocate Renee Karunungan snagged a screenshot and pointed out the bank’s owner, Henry Sy, owns a firm that cut down trees to build a parking lot and erected a building which caused massive flooding during a typhoon because they blocked waterways.
So BDO Unibank deleted this post. But of course there is a reason screenshots were made. Im putting it back so that we…
Posted by Renee Juliene M. Karunungan on Thursday, November 12, 2015
Here’s a Storify of the outrage the ad has caused:
