Quebec bottled water company pulls ads after outcry

CTV.ca News Staff

Date: Thursday Jul. 7, 2011 7:28 PM ET

A Quebec-based bottled water company is bringing its ad campaign to an early end following public criticism over its use of native imagery.
Jim Delsnyder, Eska Water's president and CEO, said in a statement Thursday that his firm "is bringing an immediate halt to its current advertising and marketing campaign" due to "concerns that have been expressed over the past few days."
The ads appeared on television and in print and featured three men wearing headdresses and war paint, and carrying spears and blow guns, who are said to be defending the purity of the company's product.
Those ads would be removed "as quickly as possible," Delsnyder said, adding that he "wishes to apologize to all those who may have found the campaign and its images disrespectful."
newstory

Native Group Wants ‘Racist’ Water Ad Pulled

Update: The Quebc based bottle water company is pulling the ad after public outcry

blog update





A Toronto-based bottled water company has come under fire for a TV commercial that has representatives of the Algonquin Nation demanding a retraction of the ad, which they say feeds “old prejudices” about aboriginal people.

The ad, by Eaux Vives Canada Inc. for its Eska brand of bottled water, shows three men dressed as aboriginal warriors, so-called “Eskan Warriors,” who have been charged with “protecting the purity of Eska water for 8,000 years.” The legend is made up for the purpose of the ad.

In the 30-second spot, which can be viewed on YouTube, actors of dubious aboriginal background fire an arrow toward a Caucasian man about to mix orange juice with Eska, the message being that the juice would tarnish the purity of the water.

The Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council, representing the Algonquin Nation in Quebec, says the ad is offensive to them.

Link to news article

Citizen journalist and Mohawk from Kanehsatake, Clifton Nicholas, discusses his reaction to a new advertising campaign by Eska Water, a Canadian bottled water company. Nicholas is leading a boycott of Eska water because of a culturally insensitive ad called "Eskan Warriors" which has three non-aboriginal men, dressed as natives, with menacing faces, trying to protect the water's purity.