The American company, which is based in Massachusetts, issued a public apology on behalf of its Thailand franchise for any offense their most recent ad campaign might have caused after it was widely criticized. The deputy director for the Asia division of the Human Rights Watch explained that painting someone's face in black in order to sell a chocolate donut is both racist and low. He expects the company to pull back the ad and make sure that something like this wouldn't happen again.
Karen Raskopf, a Dunkin' Donuts spokesperson, had the following to say immediately after communicating the company's apology: "We are working with our franchisee to immediately pull the television spot and to change the campaign."
A Blackface leads to thoughts of racism because of the history behind it. Blackface was used in the past to "mock" black people. It would have been even worst and the advertisement campaign would have got an even worst feedback if the woman from the ad would have been caricatured. The ad is both offensive and racist as the use of blackface is a very controversial issue. Now experts can't help but wonder if the ad was created with racism thoughts or if it was created without any understanding of the message the advertisement could carry.
