Kerala hospital faces flak for having Hollywood star Morgan Freeman on dermatology department billboard

The Vadakara Co-operative Hospital in Kerala's Kozhikode district found itself caught in an online storm after a blooper on one of its billboards. The billboard advertising the hospital's dermatology department was panned on social media not for what was written on it but for who was featured on it. The photograph used was that of Hollywood star Morgan Freeman! 

Freeman, an American actor and director who has won numerous awards, including the Golden Globes, was used as a billboard for the treatment of warts, bumps and skin tags. The hospital authorities came to know about the serious mistake after the pictures of the billboard went viral on social media.

Asked about the controversial billboard, the Vadakara Co-operative Hospital's marketing department told Asianet News Online that the ad was created by an outside advertising agency and that they did not know who was in the picture. The hospital authorities accepted that it was a serious mistake and apologized. The marketing department further said that the billboard was removed immediately after being noticed.

Hospital officials confessed that the ad was not intended to create a controversy and that what happened was due to the ignorance of those who prepared the ad and failed to identify Morgan Freeman. The billboard had been in front of the hospital for four days. 

An error occurred while using the image obtained while searching the Internet for symptoms of skin diseases. The hospital officials said that it was only after the criticism that they came to know that was Morgan Freeman in the picture. The advertisement department of Vadakara Co-operative Hospital responded that a detailed study would be conducted to ascertain how the serious error occurred.

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