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This University Thought Nobody Would Notice They Made White Students Black, Then Someone Found The Original Pic
If you haven’t noticed the marketing shift in companies to capitalize on diversity you must be living in a bubble, but for educational institutions, this strategy is nothing new. Take a look at the majority of college brochures and you’ll see a cultural rainbow of peers, proudly pedaling an inclusive campus, however, the reality is sometimes a stark contrast.
Well, the French art school Émile Cohl in Lyon, decided to follow a “fake it till you make it” diversity campaign strategy to pull in prospective U.S students. In a promo photo on the American version of their school’s website the designers digitally added melanin to current white student’s faces and when this wasn’t enough took it a step further and manipulated the image to add two more black people to the group. A current student shared the ridiculous advertisement photo in a private group for students, which was then turned into a side by side photomontage by former student Kelsi Phung and posted to Twitter.
The viral tweet forced the art school to release an apology, blaming the U.S communications company they had hired.”The communication company decided on its own to darken the skin of some students to add diversity,” the assistant director of the art school, Emmanuel Perrier, told CNN. “The communication campaign was made from the US.”
Since the controversy, the site has been shut down and the contract with the communications company has been terminated. Émile Cohl hopes to salvage their reputation and continue their plan to open their Los Angeles branch in the next four years.
Scroll down below to see the horribly photoshopped photos and tell us your thoughts!
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These are students at the Émile Cohl art school in Lyon, France
And here are the same students, but as someone noticed, they are joined by some new unfamiliar faces
On the school’s U.S website some of the student’s were slightly more melanated than before
While some were completely photoshopped out and replaced
Another student’s darker body double
There were six alterations overall
Needless to say, people were not happy
What do you think ?
Mandi Ramos 6 years ago
The 3 guys in the back have they're backs turned to the camera. That was the first thing I noticed.
diane a 6 years ago
If people of colour are not applying for certain courses, they must have alternate avenues to explore - why on earth pretend and make things up
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Zenozenobee 6 years ago
This French school want to open a branch in L.A. and its Californian communication agency photoshopped the pic for the promotion of the school in L.A. The school stopped its cooperation with this agency. The question is how the hell they hired a communication agency with this poor abilities with photoshop? And concerning the agency, I have no idea what they had in mind and who thought no one would notice?
Mandi Ramos 6 years ago
The 3 guys in the back have they're backs turned to the camera. That was the first thing I noticed.
diane a 6 years ago
If people of colour are not applying for certain courses, they must have alternate avenues to explore - why on earth pretend and make things up
Load More Replies... Zenozenobee 6 years ago
This French school want to open a branch in L.A. and its Californian communication agency photoshopped the pic for the promotion of the school in L.A. The school stopped its cooperation with this agency. The question is how the hell they hired a communication agency with this poor abilities with photoshop? And concerning the agency, I have no idea what they had in mind and who thought no one would notice?
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