Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert Apologizes After Slogan Sparks Social Media Outrage
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert apologized for a campaign slogan on a Detroit building, saying his organization "screwed up badly" after the slogan met with backlash on social media.
The advertisement said "See Detroit Like We Do," and featured mostly caucasian people on the photo. The ad was placed by Bedrock, which is Gilbert's real estate firm that owns nearly 100 properties in downtown Detroit.
The social media outrage came because of the lack of diversity in the photo. According to a Detroit 2010 census, eight out of every 10 residents in Detroit are African-American.
"Although not intended to create the kind of feelings it did, the slogan/statement we used on these graphics was tone deaf, in poor taste and does not reflect a single value of philosophy that we stand for at Bedrock Development or in our entire Family of companies," a Gilbert post on Facebook said.
Gilbert said his company "killed this dumb campaign slogan" and that citizens "won't be seeing that tagline anywhere again."
That slogan first appeared on the building on Friday and was removed the next day, as the company realized that the "partial installation would completely distort our vision for the finished project."
"The full graphic package that was slated to be installed across all of the retail windows on the Vinton Building was a very inclusive and diverse set of images that reflects the population of the city that we do business in and also reflects the diversity among our own workforce in Detroit," the statement said.
