A creative leader in the San Antonio, Texas office of a major ad agency is under fire after sending team members an invite late last year to participate in, well, what else? Ghetto Day, according to Adweek’s Agency Spy blog.

A statement from Jim Palmer, CEO of Campbell Ewald advertising agency, condemns the email that features a picture of two smiling Black men standing in view of a Pabst Blue Ribbon sign on a trash-strewn street.

Agency Spy quotes the inter-office email written by the worker, who is presumably White, notes the report:

Also please share with the teams that today is officially Ghetto Day in the [San Antonio office], and we’re inviting our Big D homebitches to cycle in and pop a freak with us.

Ghetto music, Malt 45s at lunch, ghetto terminology, and of course, drugs and prostitution are legal all day until close of business. Word, my cerebral gangsters.

Palmer’s statement reads:

“This email is in no way reflective of who we are as an agency and what we stand for. We addressed this matter very seriously when it happened back in October. To those that were hurt and offended by this language, we sincerely apologize.”

Agency Spy says it is awaiting comment about what–if any–disciplinary action has been taken against the employee.

January 28, 2016