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Kerala Hospital slammed for using Morgan Freeman’s photo in skin treatment ad, apologises


Mangalore Today News Network / News18

Thiruvanantapuram, Feb 02, 2022: A Kerala hospital has apologised for using a poster featuring actor Morgan Freeman’s face to advertise its services. As per a report by The New Indian Express, the Vadakara cooperative hospital, which had used the legendary actor’s face to advertise its skin treatment facilities, removed the board after it came under fire on social media because of its severely racist undertones. The services advertised had included removal of warts, skin tags, milia and molluscum. Ever since, not only was the board slammed online, but many fans of Freeman even called the hospital to express their anger. T Sunil, the marketing manager of the hospital, claimed to The New Indian Express that the hospital has not only issued an apology on Facebook, but also that the gaffe had stemmed from ignorance and there had been no intention of defaming the Hollywood great.

 

Morgan Freeman


Some miffed Twitters users could be seen tagging Morgan Freeman to bring the matter to his notice. “Sir, @morgan_freeman your picture is used as a poster at a dermatology department advt board in hospital in Kerala, India. Using your picture as sample, they are claiming to make everyone free from dark tan, wrinkles, pigments… (sic)" wrote one.

 


“Oh, my god! The dermatology department of a Kerala cooperative hospital is using the photo of Morgan Freeman to claim they can remove warts & skin tags in a single visit! Show respect & basic courtesy, people!" wrote another.

While some were cognizant of the racial undertones to the ad, others thought it was amusing, not least due to the fact that advertisements for all and sundry involve posters of famous actors from both Bollywood and Hollywood. Roadside salons feature Zayn Malik or Shah Rukh Khan, carrom powder packs may feature Jessica Alba, John Terry’s face may be on a cigarette packet and so on. In a thread, several Twitter users shared such absurd advertisements that the country has seen.

In 2013, there had been a similar gaffe involving Morgan Freeman in Coimbatore. The owner of a billboard in Coimbatore had decided to put up a tribute for Nelson Mandela. But the guy who was in charge of looking for Mandela’s picture mistook the anti-apartheid hero for Freeman, according to various media reports. Cloth merchant Chandrashekhar, who paid for the board, said it was a mistake by the designer, according to AFP. He had promised to “replace it with the correct picture of Mandela." Morgan Freeman played Mandela in the 2009 film Invictus.