[Business Insider SA] The agency behind an advert which made use of historically inaccurate information which it presented as fact, has apologised, withdrawn the campaign, and returned the Gold Loerie award it won at last weekends’ prestigious industry "Oscars".TBWA Hunt Lascaris issued a statement on the sources used in "Past and Present" Campaign created for the Apartheid Museum at Gold Reef City.
"TBWA Hunt Lascaris confirms that it inadvertently took some of the sources believed to be trustworthy and used them in its recent award-winning ’Past and Present’ campaign at face value and should have dug deeper."
It highlights the significant risks associated with using contentious, unverified material in a social media age. The agency admits its own internal investigation showed several of the quotes it used "appear to be in question as to their true authenticity."
The advert juxtaposes audio of racist things allegedly said by US President Donald Trump and apartheid-era prime minister Hendrik Verwoerd. Three are attributed to Trump and four to Verwoerd. Actors’ voices were used to illustrate some of the supposed quotes.