Microsoft race row as black man ‘made white’ in advert
BOSSES at computer giant Microsoft were forced to apologise yesterday after replacing a black man’s head with a white man’s in an advert.
The original photograph on the company’s US website featured an Asian man, a black man and a white woman sitting at a desk in a meeting.
A banner beneath the image reads: “Empower your people with the IT skills they need.”
But in the Polish version, the black man’s head was replaced with a white man’s – although the colour of his hand gave it away.
The clumsy photo-editing also put the white man’s head at an unnatural angle to the rest of the body. The image attracted criticism within hours of appearing on the internet with bloggers accusing the multi-billion-pound company of racism.
Others said the edited photograph reflected Poland’s 95 per cent white population.
One student on an online forum said: “I doubt the country is so racist for this to be needed.”
Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said: “We are looking into the details of this situation. We apologise and are in the process of pulling down the image.”
Last night Microsoft’s Polish website was displaying the original image featuring the black man’s head.