[Correction/Update] An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported that the Taco Bell commercial that was pulled was a Super Bowl ad. It was, in fact, a commercial that ran during the college football's Bowl Championship Series (BCS). Here is Taco Bell's Super Bowl commercial that ran during the second quarter of Sunday's Game.
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Taco Bell pulled a recent commercial in response to complaints on Twitter. The ad mocked people who bring vegetable platters to football parties. Watch the pulled ad here:
“Veggies on game day is like punting on fourth and one—it’s a cop out,” the ad’s narrator says, and suggested that people should instead bring a Taco Bell Taco 12 Pack.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest launched a Twitter campaign protesting the ad because they worried it might “discourage people from eating vegetables,” according to Gawker.
Related: Coke Super Bowl Ad 2013: You Decide the Ending (VIDEO)
In response to the Twitter campaign, Taco Bell decided to pull the commercial. “We didn’t want anyone to misinterpret the intent of the ad,” said a Taco Bell spokesman, in a statement quoted by Time.
This was not the only football-related ad to spark controversy over the past few weeks. A teaser of the Mercedes-Benz Super Bowl ad featuring Kate Upton suggestively washing a car drew criticism for being overly sexual:
And some people are accusing Volkswagen’s Super Bowl ad of being racist. The ad features “a white guy who speaks in a Jamaican accent and tries to cheer up his co-workers,” according to Ace Showbiz.
“Didn’t anyone look at this? This is so racist,” said Mediapost.com’s Barbara Lipper. “It’s just saying that black people are happy.”
A VW rep defended the ad on CNN’s “Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien,” saying that “the company had conducted research, including consultations with Jamaicans, to ensure the ad was racially sensitive,” said Ace Showbiz. “There’s no thought of pulling it.”
What do you think? Watch the VW ad here:
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