Microsoft apologizes for web photo racism

LOS ANGELES, USA: Software giant Microsoft Corp apologized on Tuesday for altering the image of a black man into that of a white man by morphing it in a promotional ad.

The advertisement in the US website featured three employees – one black man, one Asian and a white woman – sitting around a desk. However, when it was used in Poland, the Black man's face was replaced by that of a white man, which caused a controversy about racism.

Interestingly, the colour of the hands of this morphed white man remained unchanged, which was soon detected by the bloggers, who circulated the image online, forcing Microsoft to apologize.

"We are looking into the details of this situation," said Microsoft spokesperson Lou Gellos. "We apologize and are in the process of pulling down the image."

Microsoft also posted an apology on its official Twitter account, which read,“ Marketing site photo mistake - sincere apologies - we're in the process of taking down the image.”

Microsoft also pulled down the image from the Polish site following the controversy and replaced it with the original one appeared on the US site. But still the question persists among the online community. “Are there no black folks in Poland that you want to advertise to?” asks one blogger.