The Hollywood actor featured in a video of Popchips, which has been pulled off air since the accusations erupted.

The images and the corresponding video feature the 34-year-old actor with heavily applied brown makeup, portraying a Bollywood producer, Raj, who is looking for love. The heavily accented English and the body scratching elements of the Indian character in the ad has caused outrage across the global Asian community and an online campaign started in protest of the ad.

Social media has proved its power once again, with the CEO of Pop Chips being forced to apologize after a racist row erupted over an online ad featuring Hollywood’s Ashton Kutcher as an Indian man.

Viewer criticism snowballed on Wednesday, forcing YouTube and Facebook yank the ad off air; however, other media outlets are still showcasing clips.

The “Two and a Half Men” star is also seen in other videos for Popchips where he portrays a fashion diva, closely resembling Karl Largerfield, along with a tattooed redneck Southerner and a stoned out junkie.

 
While Kutcher has yet to issue a statement on the ad in question, Pop Chips CEO Keith Belling issued an apology on his blog in the early hours today, stating: “Our team worked hard to create a light-hearted parody featuring a variety of characters that was meant to provide a few laughs.

“We did not intend to offend anyone. I take full responsibility and apologize to anyone we offended.”

Blogger and Twitterati Anil Dash is one of the initiators of the online campaign against the ad, wrote on his blog: “Don’t watch it (the ad); it’s a hackneyed, unfunny advertisement featuring Kutcher in brownface talking about his romantic options, with the entire punchline being that he’s doing it in a fake-Indian outfit and voice. That’s it, there’s seriously no other gag…

 “I think we can attack the process by which these broken, racist, exploitative parts of our culture are created. I think the people behind this Popchips ad are not racist. I think they just made a racist ad, because they’re so steeped in our culture’s racism that they didn’t even realize they were doing it.”

Meanwhile others from the Indian community can’t understand all the fuss and have come out to support the ad, with Twitterati Prassad Sherlekar ‏saying: “I can’t believe how touchy ‘Indians’ have become off late, outraged by an simple ad with a spoof of an Indian man? #LackOfHumor #Ashton Kutcher [sic].”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlVUlfBafDo

(Emirates24/4)