These Are The Most Tone-Deaf And Insensitive Ads Of All Time

Intel’s Ad For Its Duo Processor Had Slavery Connotations

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Photo credit: Paco Freire/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

A 2007 print ad from Intel promoted the company’s Core 2 Duo processor. It compared the speed and power of the processor to the speed of human sprinters (which was actually one sprinter multiplied by six). The sprinters all happened to be black and were featured in the starter position, heads bowed and knees bent.

Meanwhile, a white Intel employee stood above the sprinters, which many saw as an allusion to slavery. Intel later apologized for the ad, saying, “Unfortunately, our execution did not deliver our intended message and in fact proved to be insensitive and insulting.”

How did one car company respond after enraging the public with a pedophelia-themed commercial? Read on to find out.