Okay, who told Intel this was a good idea? (click on the pic for a larger image)

In an advertisement that the company says is supposed to convey an image about the speed of their Core Duo processors, they have six black sprinters crouched down in a starting position. However, what this ad comes off looking like is 6 black men bowing down to a white man.

Intel has pulled the ad and is apologizing profusely. In a statement from their web site, they say the following.

We made a bad mistake. I know why and how, but that simply doesn’t make it better.

The intent behind our ad campaign “Multiply Computing Performance and Maximize the Power of Your Employees” was to convey the performance capabilities of our processors through a number of visual metaphors. Unfortunately, while we have used a visual of sprinters in the past appropriately, this ad of using African-American sprinters did not deliver our intended message and in fact proved to be culturally insensitive and insulting.

I think Intel might want to hire some people of color who are in touch with themselves culturally. That way, you might not see ads like this repeated.

Also, if they have any ads about how intelligent their processors are that involve a group of Asians with abacuses, they might want to pull those, too.

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