A Dunkin Donuts blackface ad has garnered controversy, which then forced the company to apologize.

The Dunkin Donuts "blackface" ad was from a franchise in Thailand to promote a new chocolate flavored doughnut. Dunkin' Donuts has apologized for the "insensitivity" of the advert, which featured a woman in blackface makeup.

Initially, the company's Thai headquarters defended the blackface ad, calling the controversy "paranoid American thinking"....but the U.S. headquarters issued an apology.

"We are working with our Thailand franchisee to immediately pull the ad. DD recognizes the insensitivity of this spot," Dunkin' Donuts said in a tweet posted on its official U.S. website after a firestorm of complaints erupted on Twitter.

Human Rights watch called the Dunkin Donuts blackface ad "bizarre and racist."

Earlier this month, the ad was unveiled in Thailand on posters, in TV commercials, and on Facebook. It shows a woman with blackface makeup, pink lipstick, and a 50's style beehive hairdo holding up a bitten black donut. The ad copy reads, in Thai, "Break every rule of deliciousness."

Human Rights Watch issued a statement against the Dunkin Donuts blackface ad, saying,  "It's both bizarre and racist that Dunkin' Donuts thinks that it must color a woman's skin black and accentuate her lips with bright pink lipstick to sell a chocolate doughnut.

He added, "Dunkin' Donuts should immediately withdraw this ad, publicly apologize to those it's offended and ensure this never happens again."

Critics say the ad resembles early-American minstrel shows, which had performers in blackface depicting African-American people as buffoons. They are now considered symbols of a dark era in America's past.

In addition, critics point out that the ad equates female black sexuality with "rule-breaking", as well as chocolate, another racist trope used to describe African Americans). 

However, in Thailand, advertisements commonly use highly racial stereotypes. This is, in part, perhaps because Thailand doesn't have the history the United States does of slavery, and has a much lower Black population-not to mention lower levels of cultural awareness and education about racism.

The CEO of Dunkin Donuts in Thailand said the criticism of the ad was "paranoid American thinking."

"It's absolutely ridiculous," the Dunkin Donuts Thailand CEO Nadim Salhani said in a telephone interview. "We're not allowed to use black to promote our doughnuts? I don't get it. What's the big fuss? What if the product was white and I painted someone white, would that be racist?"

Salhadi, a Lebanse expat, featured his teenage daughter as the model in the campaign.

He claimed that doughnut sales have increased about 50 percent since the blackface campaign was launched two weeks ago.

"Not everybody in the world is paranoid about racism," said Salhani. "I'm sorry, but this is a marketing campaign, and it's working very well for us."

Meanwhile, the American branch of Dunkin' Donuts quickly issued an apology for the blackface ad.

What do you think of the Dunkin Donuts blackface ads? Should they have been pulled?

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