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After Getting Complaints, HomeAway.com’s Super Bowl Ad Featuring Baby Doll Getting Slammed into a Window Will Be Altered

Feb 9, 2011  •  Post A Comment

After receiving complaints that its Super Bowl ad was insensitive toward child abuse and injuries, HomeAway.com will remove the image of a baby doll slamming into a window, reports the Hollywood Reporter.

The commercial for the vacation rental company shows people trying to fit into a crowded hotel room in a testing lab, with the "test baby" being flung against a window, the piece says. Brian Sharples, chief executive of HomeAway, apologized and said that the company had "failed to understand the reality" of families dealing with serious injuries to children.

A statement from HomeAway also said, "We do not believe the ad will result in an increase in violence towards babies, just as last year’s Super Bowl ad featuring Betty White didn’t lead to an increase in elderly women being tackled in parks. However, we feel we made a mistake in judgment, and for that all of us at HomeAway are truly sorry."

No word if HomeAway is firing the ad agency that came up with the spot, Austin, Texas-based Vendor, Inc. HomeAway is also based in Austin.

Here is the original HomeAway commercial as seen in the Super Bowl on Feb. 6, 2011:

One Comment

  1. No one has a sense of humor anymore.

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