Great Moments in Photoshop History: Microsoft Edition

(NY Post, click to enlarge)

Memo to the geniuses at Microsoft: When you start Photoshopping heads, make sure you check the rest of the body parts.

Apparently, Polish business executives won't buy products if the advertisements feature African-Americans.

That appeared to be the assertion software giant Microsoft put forth when it served up a doctored display ad on the Polish version of the company's Web site.

The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant was red-faced yesterday after consumers noticed that the company replaced an African-American man featured in the US version of its ad with the head of a white man for the Polish version.

The US ad, meant to showcase Microsoft's business IT software, features a politically correct ethnic mix of a white woman, black man, and Asian man seated around a conference table. In the Polish ad, however, the head of a white man replaces the black man.

Some online commentators suggested that Poland's predominately white population might have been a factor in doctoring the image. Indeed, the largest non-white group in Poland is the Vietnamese, which account for around 3 percent of the country's 38 million citizens.

If the ad's designers were more adept at Photoshop, however, perhaps no one would have noticed. But the software geniuses forgot to swap out the black man's hand, which is clearly visible in the ad resting on the conference table.

Moving to quickly squash the racially charged kerfuffle, Microsoft apologized and said that it was "looking into the details of the situation."

Perhaps Bill Gates will soon be visiting the White House for a beer. Furthermore, how much longer until the race pimps shake Microsoft down?