UK-based footwear and apparel company Reebok has announced that the company’s Russian marketing director Alexander Golofast is no longer employed by Reebok following the botching of the Russian version of its #bemorehumam ad campaign, RBC reports.
Earlier, the company found itself in an embarrassing situation after an ad campaign aimed at promoting female empowerment backfired due to a slogan encouraging women to “Go sit on a man’s face.”
“His comments do not reflect the views and opinions of the company. This version of the #bemorehuman campaign, which was deleted as soon as we heard about it, was not coordinated with Reebok,” Reebok’s corporate communications representative Dan Sarro said, speaking to Russian media on Monday.
The spokesman also said that the marketing campaign carries a global character and that its regional variations would continue to support the values of female strength, freedom, self-expression, and equality.
Reebok was thrust into an awkward scandal last week after a commercial photoshoot featuring Russian internet female empowerment advocate Zalina Marshenkulova accompanied by the phrase “Get off the needle of men’s approval – sit on a man’s face,” with the woman photographed sitting in a suggestive pose.
Another provocative message featured MMA fighter Justyna Graczyk, apparently warning that she had razor-sharp breasts in a post which translated as “I covered my nipples so that you don’t cut yourself.”
