The Vadakara Cooperative Hospital located in Kozhikode, Kerala recently faced backlash for using a picture of actor Morgan Freeman to advertise its skin treatments. According to a report by The New Indian Express, a banner outside the hospital showed a picture of the African-American actor and claimed to treat issues such as skin tags, warts, milia and molluscum.
The hospital was called out on Twitter, and has issued an apology as well. T Sunil, the marketing manager of the hospital said in a statement that the error stemmed out of ignorance, and not racial bias.
"The picture was taken from the internet and the board displayed near the casualty on 26 January (Wednesday). When we came to know about the gaffe, it was removed on Saturday. The hospital has issue an apology on its Facebook page. There was no intention to defame the great actor," he told TNIE.
Meanwhile, there has been substantial outrage on Twitter about the incident, with a few users even tagging the actor to make him aware about the incident. Various film critics have also made a comment about the ignorance of the hospital that paid no heed to the Oscar-winning actor's achievements and only did this based on his skin colour.
"This board is a blot on the much revered cooperative sector of the state. Those who lifted the picture of Morgan from the internet failed to identify the Oscar winning actor and went by his skin colour, the rashes on his face and his African-American heritage," Sree Parvathy, a writer, wrote on Facebook.
(With inputs from The New Indian Express).
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