The European Commission has been forced to withdraw a high-profile ad for enlargement, after complaints accused it of being racist.
The video, Growing Together, centred on a white woman dressed in yellow that comes in contact with three men; a Chinese-looking man practising kung fu, an Indian-looking man practising kalaripayattu, and a black man with dreadlocks who comes towards her in the style of capoeira – a Brazilian martial art.
The woman then multiples herself 12 times (representing the 12 stars of the EU flag), and surrounds the three men.
The video ends with the slogan "The more we are, the stronger we are".
The video was pulled quickly after its release, with the EC apologising if any offence was caused.
Almost immediately, however, the video appeared again on YouTube.
Stefano Sannino, Director General of DG Enlargement, said: "We have received a lot of feedback on our latest video clip, including from people concerned about the message it was sending.
"It was a viral clip targeting, through social networks and new media, a young audience (16-24) who understand the plots and themes of martial arts films and video games. The reactions of these target audiences to the clip have in fact been positive, as had those of the focus groups on whom the concept had been tested.
"The clip featured typical characters for the martial arts genre: kung fu, capoeira and kalaripayattu masters; it started with demonstration of their skills and ended with all characters showing their mutual respect, concluding in a position of peace and harmony.
"The genre was chosen to attract young people and to raise their curiosity on an important EU policy.
"The clip was absolutely not intended to be racist and we obviously regret that it has been perceived in this way.
"We apologise to anyone who may have felt offended. Given these controversies, we have decided to stop the campaign immediately and to withdraw the video."
