Malvinas spot: Global advertising agency condemns local subsidiary, asks gov't to pull the advert

WPP international advertising holding today regretted a controversial TV advert showing an Argentine athlete training for the London Olympic Games in Puerto Argentino, in the Malvinas Islands. The spot was tailored by a WPP local subsidiary for the Argentine government and has spurred reactions by the British government and media.

“It has come to our attention that our agency in Argentina created an ad for the Argentine government that has deeply offended many people in the UK and around the world,” the statement said, adding: “We strongly condemn this work and have asked the Argentine government to pull the spot.”

The agency pointed out it believed “it was never the intention of the ad’s creators to desecrate a war memorial”, but “they behaved in a manner that is unacceptable to our company.”

WWP said, furthermore, the agency’s policy opposes involvement in anything politically motivated. “This spot was also offensive to the Olympics spirit. Whatever it was the creators set out to highlight, what they produced is contrary to everything that we as a company stand for.”

Thus, the company apologized for the advert and regretted the incident. “We are deeply regretful for the pain this ad has caused and apologize to the many who have been rightly disturbed by it, as have we,” it stressed.