Turks protest outdoor apparel company Columbia's coat ad for being insensitive to poverty in Turkey
Outdoor apparel company Columbia offended Turkish viewers with an advertisement for a coat that read "you don't look good shivering cold." Many noted that the ad was insensitive considering the mass poverty in Turkey, while Columbia's coats are barely affordable for the minimum-wage worker in Turkey.
Duvar English
Outdoor apparel company Columbia was floored by the response from Turkish people regarding a coat advertisement that displayed the words "you don't look good shivering cold," as many found the messaging insensitive and insulting.
"Would you look at this billboard for a 2,500-lira coat? The advertisement agency that made it and the manager who approved it must live in another universe and have no clue what is going on in society," said one Twitter user about the advertisement.
The cheapest coat in Columbia's advertised Omni-Heat Collection was priced at 1,512 Turkish Liras on Dec. 14, while the monthly minimum wage is 2,300 Turkish Liras, below the country's poverty line.
"This ad would only work in a country where income per capita is veeeery high. Not in Turkey..." one Twitter user wrote.
"What kind of advertising is this? Do you think people are cold for fun?" one Twitter user wrote.
"Vile, disgusting, and insulting," another user said.