OUTsurance apologises for controversial Father’s Day video
OUTsurance has apologised for its Father’s Day video.
The insurance company faced serious backlash on social media after tweeting the video which does not represent South Africa’s demographics.
It shows predominantly white men doing acts of kindness and only one black man.
The exclusionary video created a social media uproar with some calling the advert racist.
Racism is no longer overt but subtle via adverts like how #outsurance is doing & must be challenged hence we've to question everything else.
— Tshingana (@Tshingana904) June 19, 2017
#Outsurance signifies the disgusting stink of racism that white owned companies subject blacks to daily.#mxm
— Dee Marney (@CashMofokengb) June 19, 2017
Instead of us complaining about the ad. How about we take our money somewhere else,, there's too many options #Outsurance
— Touch (@Touch_023) June 19, 2017
Group CEO Willem Roos admits the video was exclusionary.
Roos says the video did not follow the normal process of approval.
“The video clearly didn’t reflect the demographics of South Africa and the OUTsurance staff. We can only profusely apologise. The video was posted by our social media team and did not follow the normal approval processes. We are sorry for the offence caused and will make sure in future it does not happen again,” Roos says.
We apologise for our Father's Day video. It did not appropriately represent SA's demographics. It was an unintentional oversight.
— OUTsurance (@OUTsurance) June 18, 2017
Roos says a disciplinary hearing will follow.
“The post was not approved by our senior management team and we will have appropriate internal disciplinary procedures and I will deal with it personally.”
He says it’s too early to say what impact the uproar could have on business.
“We are aware that we have caused offence and our clients will not be happy. When our clients call, we will apologise and give them the best services,” he says.