The Belo Medical Group apologized on Wednesday over its recent advertisement after drawing flak from netizens.
The Belo Medical Group apologized on Wednesday after being heavily criticized for releasing an advertisement supposedly showing a woman's gradual physical transformation while watching the news about the COVID-19 pandemic at home.
"We apologize about our recent Pandemic Effect film. Thank you for being gracious in letting us know your thoughts about it," the Belo Medical Group said in a statement posted on their social media accounts.
"We hear you. You helped us see what we failed to see, which is that the film is insensitive and upsetting. Because of this, we have taken the ad down," it added.
The now-deleted "Pandemic Effect" ad drew flak on social media for portraying a woman gradually having dark bags under her eyes, facial and body hair, acne, and gaining fat while being stuck at home.
The video ends with the tagline: “Tough times call for beautiful measures.”
A copy of the ad is currently circulating on social media.
Netizens called out the company for being "insensitive" towards people with health issues and for posing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as beauty standards.
"We commit ourselves to learning from this and to bring our learnings into the future," said the company founded and owned by Dr. Vicki Belo-Kho, a dermatologist.
