An apology has been issued by a hospital in Kozhikode, Kerala, for using an image of Oscar winner Morgan Freeman to promote its beauty treatment centre. Many people were outraged by the ad, calling it “racist and ignorant.’

The commercial, which featured the 84-year-old actor, claimed, “Get your skin tags, DPNs, warts, milia, molluscum and comedones removed through simple procedures easily in a single visit.”

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T Sunil, marketing head of Vadakara Cooperative hospital, told the media over the phone, “A dermatologist joined our Out Patient Department recently. In order to publicise that there are skincare treatment facilities at the hospital, the board was installed and kept there for four days. A local designer created it. Due to lack of knowledge and seriousness, the board was carelessly installed in front of the OPD. A person inquired why Nelson Mandela’s photo was printed for the ad. After that, we removed it on Saturday.”

In the 2009 Hollywood film Invictus, Freeman played former South African President Nelson Mandela.

He added, “However, the ad went viral on social media by Sunday. We extended our apology on Facebook. We understand that Freeman is a great artist, admired by many people across the world. We sincerely say sorry for the lack of knowledge.”

Sir, .@morgan_freeman your picture is used as a poster at a dermatology department advt board in hospital in Kerala, India.

Using your picture as sample, they are claiming to make everyone free from dark tan, wrinkles, pigments…. pic.twitter.com/54plREcswi

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— Rejimon Kuttappan (@rejitweets) January 31, 2022

She added, “Nevertheless, respect to the hospital authorities who were willing to make amends after the mistake was pointed out. The earlier post has been enabled with ‘only me’ view option as there is no need to share it further.”