# Microsoft edits black man out of photo **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 25, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694 "2009-08-25T21:20:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/21 "2009-08-26T05:33:00Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > There’s also a really poorly-photoshopped [Israeli version](http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/4537/msftsuxjew.jpg) that’s even worse than the Polish one. > > With all their billions of dollars, can’t Microsoft do a better job of this stuff? 😛 Nice. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/22 "2009-08-26T05:39:58Z")
This reminds me of when The University of Wisconsin added a Black Guy to their ad brochure: [http://15.media.tumblr.com/TvWO4btirmb36o4lhylp6O0qo1\_r1\_500.jpg](http://15.media.tumblr.com/TvWO4btirmb36o4lhylp6O0qo1_r1_500.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/23 "2009-08-26T05:42:36Z")
Happens a lot. > **[11 Photos Where Black People Were Awkwardly Photoshopped In or Out - 11 Points](https://11points.com/11-photos-black-people-awkwardly-photoshopped/)** > > Ads and more where black people were clearly inserted or removed digitally. For some reason, black people and white people still don’t seem to like taking photographs together. Which makes it awfully difficult when a magazine, newspaper or brochure... Except #2 is just wrong, she’s wearing a yellow undershirt. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/24 "2009-08-26T05:59:21Z")
> [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](#): > > This reminds me of when The University of Wisconsin added a Black Guy to their ad brochure: [http://15.media.tumblr.com/TvWO4btirmb36o4lhylp6O0qo1\_r1\_500.jpg](http://15.media.tumblr.com/TvWO4btirmb36o4lhylp6O0qo1_r1_500.jpg) Life imitates art. [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38641](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/38641) From the article: > [@](#): > > Added Tompkins: “If you think it’s hard to find a picture of a black guy, try finding a smiling black guy!” ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/25 "2009-08-26T06:27:04Z")
I love that _Onion_ bit. Seriously. I go to ISU. We have a semi-buttload of Asians, a sprinkling of Blacks, and every now and then you meet somebody from Chile or Ukraine or some such place, but we really are pretty damn Whitebread. Then again, yesterday, I was crossing the campus and saw a Black _woman_ riding a bicycle. I lived in the NYC metroplex 19 years and never saw that. And yes…she was smiling. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/26 "2009-08-26T06:36:31Z")
So the Asian guy doesn’t get a computer? ---
**Author:** ![mecaenas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/91b2a8/32.png) [@mecaenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mecaenas)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/27 "2009-08-26T10:40:46Z")
A lot of mega corporations’ stock photo collections seems painfully sensitive and politically correct to the point of desperation. I thought the whole point of photos with people in them was to give their customers and potential customers situations they can relate to with people who look like them and people they know. I think Photoshopping was a dumb move when they could have simply browsed their stock photo library and made a more accurate choice. However, given that MS has now taken the politically correct US stock photo and are using it in the Polish market whose [demographics bears no resemblance to the people in the photo](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pl.html)\*, I think that’s much worse than replacing the black guy. It shows that MS can only think in their own terms and point of view from within their own country. Worse still it shows that MS couldn’t be arsed to make an effort in understanding other markets nor could it be bothered to spend any money on them. It demonstrates that MS doesn’t care about its customers in other markets. \*Polish 96.7%, German 0.4%, Belarusian 0.1%, Ukrainian 0.1%, other and unspecified 2.7% ---
**Author:** ![mecaenas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/91b2a8/32.png) [@mecaenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mecaenas)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/28 "2009-08-26T10:46:00Z")
Incidentally, it’s pretty easy to spot stock photos of Europeans and Americans when used in the Australian market too - it’s a mix of things like buildings, clothing and general environment. It all just seems so hollow and contrived. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/29 "2009-08-26T11:25:10Z")
So black men are now OK in Poland, but not [homosexual elephants](http://www.thelondonpaper.com/thelondonpaper/weird/odd-news/gay-elephant-gets-polish-politicians-fuming) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/30 "2009-08-26T18:00:20Z")
They’re apologizing now: [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us\_tec\_microsoft\_poland\_picture](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_tec_microsoft_poland_picture) > [@](#): > > LOS ANGELES – Software giant Microsoft Corp. is apologizing for altering a photo on its Web site to change the race of one of the people shown in the picture. > > A photo on the Seattle-based company’s U.S. Web site shows two men, one Asian and one black, and a white woman seated at a conference room table. But on the Web site of Microsoft’s Polish business unit, the black man’s head has been replaced with that of a white man. The color of his hand remains unchanged. > > The photo editing sparked criticism online. Some bloggers said Poland’s ethnic homogeneity may have played a role in changing the photo. > > “We are looking into the details of this situation,” Microsoft spokesperson Lou Gellos said in a statement Tuesday. “We apologize and are in the process of pulling down the image.” AFAICT, they’re not admitting that they (at Microsoft US, or anywhere else, for that matter) were responsible. They’re “looking into it.” at least they’re acknowledging the problem. Many years ago, the game **Master Mind** was marketed in the US with a cover photo of a bearded man seated at a shiny, reflective table. He was dressed in a white suit, with his fingertips together, and looked as if his IQ was 1000. Standing behind him, also in white, was a woman. In one version she was Indian, in another, Oriental. The box simply exuded a sense of “International League of Really Smart People” – We Dress in white, come from all over, and can beat you at chess while we’re still asleep. The Polish version of the box was different – the whole “international” vibe was missing. It showed a man seated at that same shiny-topped table, and a woman standing behind him, but they both looked Slavic. What really got me was that they wore jeans and denim jackets. This was before Solidarnoscz and the fall of the Soviet Union, so that denim provided the international touch – only intellectuals could easily get out of the country and get denim clothes. But they were both definitely Polish people. I wonder if the same mindset was responsible for that photo hackjob? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/31 "2009-08-26T18:06:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Many years ago, the game **Master Mind** was marketed in the US with a cover photo of a bearded man seated at a shiny, reflective table. He was dressed in a white suit, with his fingertips together, and looked as if his IQ was 1000. Standing behind him, also in white, was a woman. You mean [Bill Woodward and Cecilia Fung](http://www.le.ac.uk/press/press/landmarkreunion.html)? I remember them (especially her) well. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/32 "2009-08-26T19:03:00Z")
> [@](#): > > You mean Bill Woodward and Cecilia Fung? I remember them (especially her) well. That looks like one pair. As I said, another cover had an Indian woman standing and a seated man in a white suit, who may have been the same. The Polish box used completely different blonde , Slavic-featured people. > [@](#): > > Bill, who despite now being in his late seventies, looks remarkably unchanged from 1972, says that in addition to the photograph that was selected some were also taken with a cat sitting on his lap. Did they want people to think Ernst Stavro Blofeld played Mastermind? “How About a little game, 007?” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/33 "2009-08-26T19:17:24Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Did they want people to think Ernst Stavro Blofeld played Mastermind? > “How About a little game, 007?” Wouldn’t work. He’d start monologuing and give it all away. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/34 "2009-08-26T19:18:35Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > That looks like one pair. As I said, another cover had an Indian woman standing and a seated man in a white suit, who may have been the same. > > The Polish box used completely different blonde , Slavic-featured people. > > Did they want people to think Ernst Stavro Blofeld played Mastermind? > “How About a little game, 007?” **Cal** , you are perhaps thinking of Super Mastermind, whose cover did indeed feature a [white man and an Indian woman](http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/12688), striking a pose very similar to that of the original Mastermind. ETA: Found an image that shows Polish Mastermind: [BoardGameGeek](http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/492403) ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/35 "2009-08-27T00:08:07Z")
In my hometown, there is a long-established and deep-rooted animosity between Polish-Americans and blacks. Really, it’s Polish-Americans _towards_ blacks. I wonder, if that animosity is rooted in Polish culture and such marketing would be perceived as turning people off from Microsoft products, MS just catered to the racism of their customers, much as advertising and other services catering to Mexican-Americans consider machismo (impossibly deep male baritone voices being dominant in ads on Univision, “imprime dos para Español” voice mail prompts, in-store announcements in Spanish, and so on). Again, I’m not saying “Poles are racist”, but I’m asking “if they are, is MS pandering to that racism by 'shopping the stock photo?” ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/36 "2009-08-27T00:28:07Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > ETA: Found an image that shows Polish Mastermind: [BoardGameGeek](http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/492403) Back then they used a real Photographer with film and real models. Not a computer photo/modeling simulator. There were people that were concept artists, set designers, photographers, film developers, paste up, post production, editors…ect. All those jobs are gone and stuck in little pull down menus. Another YAY for the digital age. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_Doubt)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/37 "2009-08-27T00:34:22Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > So the Asian guy doesn’t get a computer? This wins. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/38 "2009-08-27T01:08:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Cal, you are perhaps thinking of Super Mastermind, whose cover did indeed feature a white man and an Indian woman, striking a pose very similar to that of the original Mastermind. > > ETA: Found an image that shows Polish Mastermind: [BoardGameGeek](http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/492403) I’m pretty sure the Indian Woman was not on Super MasterMind. I think it may have been on the cover of a travel edition. And, while that’s a good find, that’s not the Polish couple I referred to. As you can clearly see, they’re not wearing denim, as I described. But I’m not surprised that there is at least one more edition with the intellectual-looking man and woman in similar poses. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/39 "2009-08-27T01:37:02Z")
> [@Jamicat](#): > > Back then they used a real Photographer with film and real models. > Not a computer photo/modeling simulator. > > There were people that were concept artists, set designers, photographers, film developers, paste up, post production, editors…ect. > > All those jobs are gone and stuck in little pull down menus. > > Another YAY for the digital age. :rolleyes: I agree, and the aesthetic quality of mundane stuff like advertisements has suffered because of it. My dad has this incredible Taschen anthology of 1970s print advertisements; it’s just unbelievable to look at the way the ads looked back then and compare them to the ones now. There was such incredible style to it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694/40 "2009-08-27T13:41:38Z")
I don’t work for Microsoft, but I do have occasion to attend events on their Redmond campus several times a year. Their company really does look like their marketing photos (but much less well-dressed). I swear they’re more diverse than the world is. Working in that environment for long would sure get you in the mindset that a meeting without both genders, and at least 5 skin colors / eye shape combinations is statistically impossible. Which would really skew your thinking about a racially homogenous and borderline xenophobic culture. Or at least cause you to move your cutoff for what you consider to be a racially homogenous and borderline xenophobic culture. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-edits-black-man-out-of-photo/507694.md?page=1)