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ESPN Appologizes For Homophobic Ad

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It looks like the gay bloggers have made an impact on ESPN.

After many gay blogs started to say that the ESPN commercial featuring Shaq O’Neil was homophobic, ESPN issued this statement…..

We have dozens of executions of the “NBA on ESPN RV Tour” online campaign and none are intended to be offensive to anyone or any community of people.

Our intent is to send a positive message about the camaraderie of sports and to do so as creatively as we can. However, we understand your perspective on this ad and would like to apologize to the members of the gay community. In addition, we have decided to remove the ad from the campaign’s online executions.

ESPN has a long-standing tradition of supporting diversity in the workplace and beyond.

We are fully committed to continuing a dialogue that welcomes and recognizes diverse perspectives.

We appreciate your bringing your concerns to our attention.

- Rob Tobias – Vice President, Media Relations, ESPN

Although I personally didn’t take offense to the ad it seems to have struck many as offensive. I’m glad that ESPN has taken the criticism seriously and has pulled the ad.

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• ESPN’s homophobic NBA ad (americablog.com)