Universal's UK 'Couples Retreat' Poster Brings Cries of Racism by Removing Black Actors

by Matt Ufford · November 16, 2009
A racially-tinged advertising decision has gone awry for the movie "Couples Retreat."

Marketers of the Vince Vaughn comedy, which stars four couples in a tropical paradise, removed black actors Faizon Love and Kali Hawk from the promotional poster used in the United Kingdom after the U.S. version used all four couples. In response to outrage over the move, a Universal spokesman said the altered poster aimed "to simplify the poster to actors who are most [recognizable] in international markets."

U.S. Version


U.K. Version

While Love and Hawk aren't generally as well known as the film's other six stars, it's still a questionable motive. As noted in a 2007 New York Times article, American films with black stars typically struggle in the overseas market. According to the article, Will Smith, the undisputed king of the American box office, ranks no better than twelfth when it comes to ticket sales internationally. Simply put, said industry watcher James Ulmer, "The international marketplace is still fairly racist."

However, there's good news for those who believe the removal of Love and Hawk from the UK poster was racist: Universal issued a statement regretting any offense it caused, and the studio has scrapped all plans to use the modified poster in other overseas markets.

LINK

"In response to outrage over the move, a Universal spokesman said the altered poster aimed "to simplify the poster to actors who are most [recognizable] in international markets."

Wonder how much they paid that spin doctor?! I.e. "They don't like black people over there!"

dannyd5050 said:

from the both posters i only recognize 3 of them. so that excuse is pretty lame.

it's bad enough that they're all the way in the back and barely visible in the US poster

If it makes anyone feel better, the movie looks like shit anyway.

Didn't Life magazine used to have a game like this where you tried to find all the differences between two photos? These two photos would fit right in with that.

Their faces look so miserable. It's like they know the movie sucks.

The blonde girl in the middle was freaking unwatchable in Watchmen. Just awful. So this should just about do it for her career.

Efan said:

Is she the one that had black hair in Watchmen?

Vendetta1 said:

Yeah. Well, it was brown, I think. She was Silk Spectre II.

Efan said:

roodboi said:

roodboi said:

I've become wildly attracted to blue-dicked men.

Efan said:

well, you got Dr. Manhattan, the Smurfs or the Blue Man Group to choose from...

sammij said:

I also noticed that...

roodboi said:

Or the Fugate family. Are any of them still alive?

Efan said:

yeah, but none of them have penises

Not only is a glaring omission

but the overall photoshop job is horrible