People Slam Match.com Ad for Calling Freckles An 'Imperfection'

Recently, Match.com put up ads in London subways. They dubbed natural qualities such as freckles and different-colored eyes "imperfections," which has raised a storm among people.

"If you don't like your imperfections, someone else will," the ads read, along with the hashtag #loveyourimperfections.

Commuters are incensed, and are charging the website with "bullying." A number of London commuters are sharing their anger in Twitter.

"Lowest form of advertising @Match_UK claiming freckles & eye colour make a person imperfect? Profiting by bullying," one Twitter user wrote.

"No @Match - #freckles are not imperfections...#frecklesarebeautiful," another user proudly captioned a photo of her own freckled face. "Stop judging people on skin pigmentation."

One user even posted a photo of the ad with a sign on it reading, "This isn't imperfection it's a skin tone." "Pseudo #loveyourimperfections bullshit," the user wrote. "There's no perfect/imperfect. Certainly not defined by advertising execs."

To this kneejerk reaction, the Advertising Standards Authority revealed that it got a number of complaints and officials want to remove the ads. Match.com reacted to the backlash too.

"We have taken note of the response about our advert concerning freckles. Following this feedback, we are in discussions with our relevant partners about removing these posters as soon as possible," the company said. "We believe freckles are beautiful. The intention of 'Love Your Imperfections' campaign is to focus on the quirks and idiosyncrasies that people wrongly perceive to be imperfections-this can include freckles, a feature that is sometimes seen as an imperfection by people who have them. We're sorry if this ad has been interpreted in a different way and we apologize for any offence caused, this was not our intention. Our overall campaign is about celebrating perceived physical and behavioral imperfections, from having freckles to being chubby, messy or clumsy. The adverts are designed to encourage everyone to be proud of their individuality, as the features that make us unique are often the ones that make us most attractive."

On Twitter too, Match UK apologised: "Freckles are beautiful. We celebrate them, as we celebrate whatever makes people unique. We're sorry if we've offended anyone with our ad. Happy that you don't see freckles as an imperfection, we don't believe they are! We love freckles as they make us unique...Thank you for speaking up, our intention wasn't to offend. We have listened, and decided to remove the ads as soon as possible."