Apple Removes Same-Sex Couple From Its International Mother's Day Ad
In a strange and surprising move, it seems Apple has edited the international versions of its Mother's Day ad to remove a same-sex couple from the advertisement.
Apple CEO Tim Cook celebrating at San Francisco's Pride Parade.
Jeanne Magazine (via BuzzFeed News) first spotted the change, which sees the German, Italian, Turkish, Japanese, and French versions of Apple's Mother's Day ad have a lesbian couple (above) removed from the footage. Instead of featuring footage of both mothers, instead, in those countries an image of just one of the mothers and their child appears. The Mexican, Australian, and Canadian versions (as well as the U.S. version) remain the same, however.
It's thought that Apple has made the shift in order to reflect the cultures of the countries its ads are airing in. And yet, at the same time, Apple is a strong advocate of gay rights: its CEO is not only the world's most powerful openly-gay man, but Apple has also fought against anti-gay legislation, it participates in San Francisco's Pride Parade, and the company stands as a strong advocate of human rights for all.
Because of this, we're really surprised to see Apple edit its ads in this way, not the least because it sends out a confusing and troubling message. We're hoping to hear some kind of comment from Apple concerning the move, and of course, we'll update this article with more information if we receive it.
