Microsoft apologizes for black/white gaff in online ad

The original picture as it appeared in the US (top) and the altered version (bottom) that was displayed on the Polish website

SEATTLE, Washington (CNN) — Software giant Microsoft apologized Wednesday for the apparent bad judgment that led to the head of a black model being swapped for that of a white model in an online advertisement.

The ad — which showed three business people, one Asian, one white and one black — was altered on Microsoft’s Web site for Poland to place the head of a white man on a black man’s body.

“We apologized, fixed the error and we are looking into how it happened,” said Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman. He said that because the company was still reviewing how the swap occurred he could not comment further.

On Microsoft’s official page on the social network site Twitter, a posting calls the swap “a marketing mistake” and offers “sincere apologies.”

The business Web site CNET.com, which first published reports of the swap, wrote that the change in models may have been made with the “racially homogeneous” Polish market in mind.