Samsung has apologised for a misguided television commercial which shows a woman running along a city street after midnight.
The company’s Night Owls campaign, created by Ogilvy, was meant to promote health and freedom, but inadvertently came across as “completely and utterly tone deaf” regarding women’s safety.
“The Night Owls campaign was designed with a positive message in mind: to celebrate individuality and freedom to exercise at all hours,“ Samsung said in a statement.
“It was never our intention to be insensitive to ongoing conversations around women’s safety. As a global company with a diverse workforce, we apologise for how this may have been received.”
The gulf between reality and Samsung’s cheery ad sparked the online hashtag #shewasonarun.
“The ad is completely and utterly tone deaf”, Jamie Klinger, co-founder of United Kingdom-based campaign group Reclaim These Streets, told BBC Radio 1. Reclaim These Streets was founded last year, following the murder of South Londoner Sarah Everard, who was walking home alone.
