The car ad, which is a parody of the Woody Allen movie "Midnight in Paris," features a song called "Booty Swing" by Austrian musician Parov Stelar. The lyrics reference the racially-cast Asian villain Fu Manchu, Chinese females who say "ching ching, chop suey!" and Japanese females who call Americans "Amelicans."
Now, in the land of Fu Manchu, The girls all now do the Suzie-Q, Clap their hands in the center of the floor, Saying, "Ching, ching, chop-suey, swing some more!"
The Chevy ad "received some negative feedback regarding the lyrics in the commercial's soundtrack," General Motors Communications Director Faye Roberts told the South China Morning Post. "Once the issue was brought to our attention, GM immediately removed the offensive content from the commercial."
Canadian television networks stopped playing the original version of the ad a week ago and replaced it with a version that leaves out the song's controversial lyrics, the Post reports.
On Wednesday, Bloomberg confirmed General Motors had pulled the ad. The outlet reported the auto maker was reviewing its advertising approval processes to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
"Our intent was not to offend anyone and we’re deeply sorry if anyone was offended," Detroit-based GM spokesperson Ryndee Carney told the news outlet.
Apple CEO Tim Cook issued an apology Friday for the company's new Maps app. Cook directed users to other map apps in the Apple store or websites like Google or Nokia until Apple's version is fixed.
Bank Of America Debit Card Fee
Bank of America announced last year that it was planning to charge customers a $5 fee to use their debit cards. After an intense customer backlash, the company dropped the plan.
New Coke
In 1985 Coca-Cola decided to mess with its iconic product, according to NBCNews.com. The result: Epic failure. With customers comparing the change to trampling the American flag, the company pulled the product after just a few months.
Ford Edsel
In 1957, Ford launched the Edsel, a car the company billed as hot and revolutionary, according to the Washington Post. Problem: It turned out to be sort of "blah." By the time the company pulled the car in 1959, it had lost about $250 million.
Window's Vista
When it debuted in January, 2007, Microsoft's newest operating system was slammed by consumers. As a result, businesses and personal computer users were slow to adopt it, according to Spike.
The Arch Deluxe
McDonald's launched a luxury burger geared towards the adult set in 1996 with a $100 million advertising campaign, according to The New York Times. But the mature hamburger was ultimately a flop.
Sony poured 20 years of research into its Betamax videocassette recorder, but was ultimately beat out by the competition, according to the Los Angeles Times. Matsushita developed the VHS system, which became more popular among companies making the devices -- and companies making films -- rendering the Betamax obsolete.
Qwickster
In September of last year, Neflix announced that it would be separating its online streaming service from its DVD service and calling the DVD branch "Qwickster." The proposal turned out to be such an epic fail that the company scrapped the experiment last November before it even launched.
Clairol's "Touch Of Yogurt" Shampoo
When Clairol came out with its yogurt-based shampoo in 1979, they thought it would be a success, thanks to widespread interest in the test marketing phase. But it turned out to be a flop; customers apparently don't want to put food in their hair.
BlackBerry Playbook
BlackBerry launched its Playbook without apps for email, contacts or any of the other things people use tablets for. The result: The company slashed prices on the device as the holidays approached.
HD DVD
Toshiba's HD DVD experiment ended up being trounced by Sony's Blu-Ray player as studios and customers opted for the latter.
The Yugo
The car deemed by many to be one of the worst vehicles ever exported to the U.S. was met with widespread criticism when it landed on American shores in 1986. Available for just $3,990, the car did terribly in crash tests, according to CBS News.
Nike Black And Tan Sneakers
Nike launched a sneaker (not pictured) in the lead up to St. Patrick's Day that offended some Irish people. The shoe called "Black and Tan" shares its name with a British paramilitary unit that attacked Irish civilians in the 1920s.
