Gigil ad agency apologizes for Belo Medical Group’s controversial ‘Pandemic Effect’ ad

Ad agency Gigil has apologized for its controversial ad for the Belo Medical Group that drew the ire of netizens due to its “insensitive” portrayal of the challenges that women experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The “Pandemic Effect” ad uploaded on Tuesday night, Aug. 10, on the Belo Medical Group’s social media accounts featured the physical transformation of a woman while being seemingly overwhelmed with the stress of the pandemic. It was then taken down hours after it was uploaded.

In an official statement posted on its social media accounts on Wednesday night, Aug. 11, Gigil expressed regret for creating an ad that caused “distress” among netizens.

“Yesterday, the Belo Medical Group posted a film that we created which caused distress to a considerable amount of people. We were insensitive. We are sorry to the people whom we hurt,” the statement read.

“GIGIL shares responsibility for the film. We will learn from this, and we will do better.”

A number of netizens gave credit to Gigil's apology on the comments section of the statement.

The Belo Medical Group has also issued a statement of apology on its social media accounts on Wednesday, Aug. 11.