Offensive BIC Canada ads continued running after company tried to pull them

by Charlie Smith on Aug 20, 2012 at 7:40 am
You don't want this guy's pen to run out of ink.
BIC Canada ad screen shot

Marketing magazine has revealed that BIC Canada continued receiving complaints about an allegedly racist ad, even after coming clean about the problem.

The message shows how a stereotypical Asian tyrant condemns prisoners to die after his pen runs out of ink. (You can see the 30-second spot here.)

BIC Canada spokesperson Linda Kwong informed Marketing that two more complaints rolled in on August 17 following the ad's appearance on TV the previous night.

"We are very angry with the agency," Kwong told Marketing. "We understand it’s a process, but we were reassured [the ad] was getting pulled quickly."

On August 16, BIC Canada declared that the ad wasn't going to be broadcast again.

"After hearing from consumers that they found the ad offensive, we made the decision to pull the ad on Tuesday, August 14, 2012," BIC Canada vice president Kevin Murphy said in a statement. "We have now been informed by our advertising agency that the ad has been completely pulled from all TV shows."

Of course, the ads weren't pulled from all programs, so the controversy has remained in the news a little while longer, despite BIC Canada's efforts to quash the problem once and for all.


Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.

Comments (4) Add New Comment
DavidH
Aug 20, 2012 at 10:36 am
So, BIC Canada is angry with their advertising agency for not quickly pulling a multi-million dollar ad spot that BIC Canada had obviously approved?

"whipping boy" - noun: A person who is blamed or punished for the faults or incompetence of others; scapegoat; fall guy.
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Mitch.H
Aug 20, 2012 at 6:03 pm
they should have just left the ad alone. Somethings always offending someone.
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Andy C.
Aug 20, 2012 at 11:50 pm
Watched the ad and not sure what the fuss is about, it's a situation that could be portrayed with any ethnicity and is therefore generic. Of course, I guess the best way to avoid social criticism, and freedom of speech for that matter, is to frame it as a racist attack.
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Isabella Ng Lai
Oct 2, 2012 at 8:03 pm
This is truly an interesting commercial. I found the story line engaging,
the production value and quality is beautiful looking. I thought I was looking at a trailer for a feature film. The actors were perfectly cast and oh yes I don't believe the caucasian man or attractive woman are asian. I am asian and I was not offended by this content whatsoever. Honestly, if this ad were to run in Europe, Australia or South America, I'm pretty sure they would submit it for an award of some sort.
Please people, get your heads out of the sand, do you really think that Bic, being a world renown company would intentionally produce a commercial to offend any one race??
This is ridiculous. Thanks alot to the 48 people who spit out an email to Bic complaining and claiming racism. In this day and age, really??
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