Either people have no sense of humor these days, or I need serious help, because I think the HomeAway, Inc. Super Bowl commercial is hilarious.
As a result of the huge backlash from customers who complained that the commercial trivializes child abuse, among other things, HomeAway has since removed the ad from their site (you can watch it below, however) and issued a public apology via Facebook.
…In the commercial, depicting a frustrated family in a cramped hotel room, a father accidentally hurls a baby into a glass wall. On the company website, HomeAway encouraged viewers to “customize” the ad by uploading their own photos and choosing between options to catch or decapitate the “test baby.”
“We’re deeply sorry that the ads offended some and hurt others,” chief executive officer Brian Sharples said in a statement. “It was painful for all of us to hear from those affected. … We always want to do the right thing — and we’re willing to admit when we’re wrong. We all make mistakes — the best we can do is correct what we can, and learn from them — and this situation is no exception.”
Although HomeAway didn’t say how many people viewed the ad online, Sharples’ statement mentioned that Web traffic exceeded that generated by last year’s Super Bowl ad.
Read what some children’s advocates had to say about HomeAway’s controversial commercial: HomeAway pulls ‘smushed baby’ Super Bowl ad