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General Category => Off the Record => Topic started by: Malthus on August 25, 2009, 05:36:23 PM

Title: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Malthus on August 25, 2009, 05:36:23 PM
Heh, this is funny.

http://www.microsoft.com/businessproductivity/default.mspx

versus

http://www.microsoft.com/poland/businessproductivity/default.mspx

:D
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: DGuller on August 25, 2009, 05:42:49 PM
Jesus, what an utterly depressing shot, either one.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Josquius on August 25, 2009, 05:44:36 PM
:lol:
Good find. What were you doing on the Polish site anyway?

They didn't change the hand though....
Wonder why they'd do that and leave the oriental guy intact too.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Malthus on August 25, 2009, 05:48:59 PM
Quote from: Tyr on August 25, 2009, 05:44:36 PM
:lol:
Good find. What were you doing on the Polish site anyway?

They didn't change the hand though....
Wonder why they'd do that and leave the oriental guy intact too.

I didn't find it myself; someone at work sent me an email.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Jaron on August 25, 2009, 05:50:48 PM
I'd boycott Microsoft if such a thing was possible.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: DisturbedPervert on August 25, 2009, 05:50:54 PM
Quote from: Tyr on August 25, 2009, 05:44:36 PM
:lol:
Good find. What were you doing on the Polish site anyway?

They didn't change the hand though....
Wonder why they'd do that and leave the oriental guy intact too.

It's on fark and probably lots of places by now.   Interesting they left the asian dude in.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Malthus on August 25, 2009, 05:52:27 PM
Quote from: DGuller on August 25, 2009, 05:42:49 PM
Jesus, what an utterly depressing shot, either one.

Doesn't happy business folks enjoying a constructive meeting fill your heart with glee?  :D
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: MadImmortalMan on August 25, 2009, 05:55:31 PM
Awesome. I'm sending that to half of Microsoft Reno.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: DGuller on August 25, 2009, 06:00:00 PM
Quote from: Malthus on August 25, 2009, 05:52:27 PM
Quote from: DGuller on August 25, 2009, 05:42:49 PM
Jesus, what an utterly depressing shot, either one.

Doesn't happy business folks enjoying a constructive meeting fill your heart with glee?  :D
No, it fills my head with bullets.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Eddie Teach on August 25, 2009, 06:12:27 PM
Quote from: Jaron on August 25, 2009, 05:50:48 PM
I'd boycott Microsoft if such a thing was possible.

Why should they use black people to market their products in places there are no black people?
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: DGuller on August 25, 2009, 06:15:43 PM
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on August 25, 2009, 06:12:27 PM
Quote from: Jaron on August 25, 2009, 05:50:48 PM
I'd boycott Microsoft if such a thing was possible.

Why should they use black people to market their products in places there are no black people?
They don't have Asian people there either.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Ed Anger on August 25, 2009, 06:16:44 PM
or jews.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Josquius on August 25, 2009, 06:17:03 PM
They have Asians. They used to get them shipped over in trade deals with the Asian commies.
And there are a few blacks too. No clue where they came from though. But I guess his presence could represent a multinational succesful buisness.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Martinus on August 25, 2009, 06:17:50 PM
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on August 25, 2009, 06:12:27 PM
Quote from: Jaron on August 25, 2009, 05:50:48 PM
I'd boycott Microsoft if such a thing was possible.

Why should they use black people to market their products in places there are no black people?

Actually, as funny as the fuck up is, since it flies in the face of their alleged diversity, this is pretty much true. If they were marketing the product in Kenya and replaced the white chick with some black chick, would anyone imply it's racist?
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: The Brain on August 25, 2009, 06:22:47 PM
Isn't this logical for polish?
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Malthus on August 25, 2009, 06:27:14 PM
Quote from: Martinus on August 25, 2009, 06:17:50 PM
Actually, as funny as the fuck up is, since it flies in the face of their alleged diversity, this is pretty much true. If they were marketing the product in Kenya and replaced the white chick with some black chick, would anyone imply it's racist?

I don't think it's racist so much as funny. The company is just opening itself up for abuse by getting caught photoshopping, when they could have done a polish-specific ad no problem.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: HVC on August 25, 2009, 06:34:01 PM
he still has a black wrist... and a broken neck
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Malthus on August 25, 2009, 06:35:05 PM
Quote from: HVC on August 25, 2009, 06:34:01 PM
he still has a black wrist... and a broken neck

Microsoft: we even have the Zombie market.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Siege on August 25, 2009, 06:41:45 PM
Awesome.

Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: DGuller on August 25, 2009, 06:41:59 PM
I hope photoshopping software is not part of their business productivity optimization package ((https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F209.85.62.26%2F12250%2F21%2Femo%2FSuicide.gif&hash=e337e999c6ad4f2c5b391a0a91c32b2309ef6334)).
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Martinus on August 25, 2009, 06:42:53 PM
Quote from: Malthus on August 25, 2009, 06:27:14 PM
Quote from: Martinus on August 25, 2009, 06:17:50 PM
Actually, as funny as the fuck up is, since it flies in the face of their alleged diversity, this is pretty much true. If they were marketing the product in Kenya and replaced the white chick with some black chick, would anyone imply it's racist?

I don't think it's racist so much as funny. The company is just opening itself up for abuse by getting caught photoshopping, when they could have done a polish-specific ad no problem.

Yeah, I agree. It's a PR clusterfuck. :D
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Faeelin on August 25, 2009, 07:41:24 PM
It's been fixed?  :huh:
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Viking on August 25, 2009, 07:45:54 PM
The black guy is in both versions when I look at it! The only difference is the polish preference for long words with lots of consonants.. the pic is the same as far as I can tell!
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: DisturbedPervert on August 25, 2009, 07:51:50 PM
This is the original

(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdl.getdropbox.com%2Fu%2F18264%2Fmspoland.jpg&hash=a7e266d5dcf67e3293aed145f424e65930618fb2)
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Razgovory on August 25, 2009, 07:55:35 PM
That's terrible photo shopping.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: jimmy olsen on August 25, 2009, 07:58:39 PM
And here it is with the white guy edited in.

Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: derspiess on August 25, 2009, 07:59:09 PM
That's some Polack caliber photoshopping right there.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: CountDeMoney on August 25, 2009, 10:19:04 PM
Funny as balls.  Dumbass Euros.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: DGuller on August 26, 2009, 01:48:15 AM
I wonder what the guy maintaining the website thought for the last few days.  "Yes, I knew it, I knew it was only a matter of time before people realized the importance of optimizing their business productivity infrastructure.  I finally made it big, just look at those site hits."
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Viking on August 26, 2009, 03:45:20 AM
1) Why didn't they use a pic of a white guy which has the light coming from the same direction?
2) Why didn't they racistically edit out the yellow guy as well?
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: The Larch on August 26, 2009, 04:17:59 AM
Heh, that reminds me of an opposite case, in which some American university from a pasty white state had to add digitally black and minority students to its brochures because they wanted to show more diversity or something.  :lol:

And that's some crude photoshopping in that picture.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Syt on August 26, 2009, 06:05:45 AM
Semi on topic:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffailblog.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F08%2Ffail-owned-racism-fail.jpg&hash=9249e9f1b39bd3253cb40f8c1dfa0d07b00f84de)
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Grey Fox on August 26, 2009, 06:08:40 AM
They seem to have changed it because I see the same picture twice.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Martinus on August 26, 2009, 06:42:48 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on August 26, 2009, 06:08:40 AM
They seem to have changed it because I see the same picture twice.

Yes, they did. They also issued an apology. :D
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Martinus on August 26, 2009, 06:47:04 AM
Quote from: Viking on August 26, 2009, 03:45:20 AM
2) Why didn't they racistically edit out the yellow guy as well?

I can only guess that it is because Asians are a common sight in the corporate environment in Poland, because we had a lot of South Korean and Japanese investments here over the last 20 years, not to mention lots of Vietnamese and other South East Asian immigrants.

On the other hand, Western companies rarely if ever send black people to hold managerial positions in Poland, so you do not really see that many black people here, and the ones we have are students. In fact, coming to think of it, I don't recall ever seeing an older black person in Poland.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: DontSayBanana on August 26, 2009, 07:13:02 AM
Wow. That's why you should never let YTMND-creators do your photoshopping work. :contract:
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: KRonn on August 26, 2009, 07:29:02 AM
I guess I don't find it a big deal. I assume the same ad run in Asian countries ads would have few if any whites or blacks, probably depending on the mix of people in a particular country. But looks like Microsoft changed the ad back,  made the two of them the same. Besides, that white guy edited in didn't look very Polish.   ;)
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Josquius on August 26, 2009, 09:03:15 AM
Quote from: DGuller on August 26, 2009, 01:48:15 AM
I wonder what the guy maintaining the website thought for the last few days.  "Yes, I knew it, I knew it was only a matter of time before people realized the importance of optimizing their business productivity infrastructure.  I finally made it big, just look at those site hits."
I've been wondering about that too...If Microsoft wasn't such a serious company you could almost imagine such stuff being done for free publicity
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Sahib on August 26, 2009, 11:34:37 AM
Quote from: KRonn on August 26, 2009, 07:29:02 AM
Besides, that white guy edited in didn't look very Polish.   ;)

What do you think Polish look like?  :huh:
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: KRonn on August 26, 2009, 12:00:46 PM
Quote from: Sahib on August 26, 2009, 11:34:37 AM
Quote from: KRonn on August 26, 2009, 07:29:02 AM
Besides, that white guy edited in didn't look very Polish.   ;)

What do you think Polish look like?  :huh:
Lol...    :D
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: DGuller on August 26, 2009, 12:46:39 PM
Quote from: Sahib on August 26, 2009, 11:34:37 AM
Quote from: KRonn on August 26, 2009, 07:29:02 AM
Besides, that white guy edited in didn't look very Polish.   ;)

What do you think Polish look like?  :huh:
Like Slavs?
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Barrister on August 26, 2009, 01:07:52 PM
Quote from: Sahib on August 26, 2009, 11:34:37 AM
Quote from: KRonn on August 26, 2009, 07:29:02 AM
Besides, that white guy edited in didn't look very Polish.   ;)

What do you think Polish look like?  :huh:

I don't quite know how to answer that other than saying when I met Martinus he looked very, very Polish.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: DGuller on August 26, 2009, 01:14:54 PM
Quote from: Barrister on August 26, 2009, 01:07:52 PM
I don't quite know how to answer that other than saying when I met Martinus he looked very, very Polish.
Did he have a plunger in his hand?
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Berkut on August 26, 2009, 01:15:48 PM
Quote from: DGuller on August 26, 2009, 01:14:54 PM
Quote from: Barrister on August 26, 2009, 01:07:52 PM
I don't quite know how to answer that other than saying when I met Martinus he looked very, very Polish.
Did he have a plunger in his hand?

That was a plunger?

Explains a lot.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Syt on August 26, 2009, 01:17:23 PM
Quote from: Barrister on August 26, 2009, 01:07:52 PM
I don't quite know how to answer that other than saying when I met Martinus he looked very, very Polish.

Of all the people on this forum I expected you the least to resort to ad hom attacks.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Barrister on August 26, 2009, 01:17:59 PM
Quote from: Syt on August 26, 2009, 01:17:23 PM
Quote from: Barrister on August 26, 2009, 01:07:52 PM
I don't quite know how to answer that other than saying when I met Martinus he looked very, very Polish.

Of all the people on this forum I expected you the least to resort to ad hom attacks.

:(
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Josquius on August 26, 2009, 05:30:15 PM
I've not been able to get near a TV today and don't get a print paper here but I notice its highly listed on the BBC new website.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8221896.stm

Has it made the regular news elsewhere?
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Sahib on August 26, 2009, 07:12:41 PM
Quote from: Tyr on August 26, 2009, 05:30:15 PM
I've not been able to get near a TV today and don't get a print paper here but I notice its highly listed on the BBC new website.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8221896.stm

Has it made the regular news elsewhere?

You visited Poland didn't you? Could you give impartial opinion on whatever there is some sort of Polish look  :)
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: The Larch on August 27, 2009, 04:04:55 AM
Quote from: Tyr on August 26, 2009, 05:30:15 PM
I've not been able to get near a TV today and don't get a print paper here but I notice its highly listed on the BBC new website.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8221896.stm

Has it made the regular news elsewhere?

It's also on the papers here. The comments section already has over 100 posts of drivel.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Josquius on August 27, 2009, 04:46:32 AM
Quote from: Sahib on August 26, 2009, 07:12:41 PM
You visited Poland didn't you? Could you give impartial opinion on whatever there is some sort of Polish look  :)
I guess.
At the least there's a definate Slavic look.
But then there is a 'look' for most countries. You get people who obviously look very French for instance. But of course it isn't uniform across the entire population.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: derspiess on August 27, 2009, 10:18:47 AM
Polish chicks have a fairly distinct look.  And it's generally one of hottness :)
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Valmy on August 27, 2009, 10:24:02 AM
Quote from: derspiess on August 27, 2009, 10:18:47 AM
Polish chicks have a fairly distinct look.  And it's generally one of hottness :)

Link?
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: KRonn on August 27, 2009, 11:00:29 AM
Heh, I was kidding about the white guy in the photo, replacing the black guy, not looking very Polish.    :D

But then, Euros do look quite different from Yanks, with the exception of Brits who have their own distinctive look....   ;)
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Admiral Yi on August 27, 2009, 06:27:57 PM
When I think of Polacks I think of semi Krautish looks, but with upturned noses and less prominent jaws and chins.  And 70s hairdos.  IMO Marty is not stereotypically Polish looking.
Title: Re: Microsoft: Edits Black Man Out of Polish Ad Copy
Post by: Maximus on August 28, 2009, 10:49:24 AM
I picture thick lips and bulging eyes, although that seem common among Germans too, so I may have that backward.