Yesterday, we received an email from Bacardi explaining that the "Get An Ugly Girlfriend" site advertising Bacardi Breezer was created by an Israeli affiliate and shut down by Bacardi last year. The company has apologized and taken it down.
Sean-Patrick M. Hillman, Executive Vice President of Corbin & Associates, a public relations agency, emailed us on behalf of Bacardi USA, Inc. He wrote:
Thank you for taking the time to post your story on Bacardi Breezer.
The campaign you are referring to ran in 2008 for two months in Israel. Even though Bacardi Breezer is not sold or distributed in the United States, we immediately notified the appropriate Bacardi affiliate and had this website shut down.
Bacardi proudly celebrates diversity and we do not endorse the views of this site. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by this site and thank you for bringing it to our attention.
Please do not hesitate to contact me at anytime should you have any questions.
Though the site was still up last week, it has now been removed entirely. The Washington City Paper blog "The Sexist" reports that yesterday, the campaign's Facebook group had about 100 followers and dozens of negative comments about the advertising execs who created it - one tipster says that interestingly, the copywriter and art director on the ad are women - but the group has disappeared as well.
Related: Bacardi's Massive Internet Fail [The Sexist]
Bacardi Breezer: Ugly Girlfriends Catalogue [Best Ads On TV]
Earlier: Bacardi Ad Uses Misogyny To Sell Alcohol To Women
