An Italian airline has apologized and removed an ad that used an actor wearing blackface to represent former President Barack Obama.
Alitalia’s promotional video, which was meant to advertise its new Rome-to-Washington D.C. flight, depicted Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Obama, and Donald Trump.
Italian airline Alitalia withdrew an advert for its non-stop flight from Rome to Washington after receiving complaints that it was racist.#Alitalia #Airline pic.twitter.com/eClh7dJ2Jh
— On Demand News (@ODN) July 5, 2019
The ad sparked backlash on social media for using an actor in blackface for Obama, but an airline representative initially defended the ad. They argued that the actor who played Obama was not white and that the makeup “was applied to highlight features,” the New York Times reported.
“Alitalia deeply apologizes for the offense caused by the promotional video on our new Washington route. It has since been removed from all of our social media channels,” Alitalia said in a statement to Fox News. “For our Company, respect for everyone is mandatory, it was never our intention to hurt anyone and we will learn from what has happened.”
