"We were very dismayed to see how the Mercedes-Benz service song's video was perceived in some U.S. blogs. Therefore we immediately removed it from all websites we have control over," the spokesperson told Business Insider. "We regret that the video has caused concern and apologize for it. We certainly did not intend to offend anybody."

8. AT&T Seizes Marketing Opportunity On 9/11

On the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, AT&T paid tribute to the fallen by tweeting an image of a Blackberry Z10 taking a photo of the two columns of light at Ground Zero.

(Twitter @ATT)

Though the branding on the phone was covered up, many people expressed the sentiment that every tweet posted by a brand is written with the ultimate goal of selling products. To them, the anniversary of a national tragedy was an inappropriate touchpoint to use in pursuit of this commercial end.

AT&T apologized first with a tweet and then with an open letter from CEO Randall Stephenson.

"I consider that date a solemn occasion each year, a time when I reach out to those I was with on that awful day, share a moment of reflection for the lives lost and express my love of country," Stephenson wrote of 9/11. "It is a day that should never be forgotten and never, ever commercialized. I commit AT&T to this standard as we move forward."

7. McDonald's Apologizes For Comparing Depression To A Big Mac Craving

Last spring, McDonald's ran an ad on Boston's public transit system that showed a woman crying in the style of anti-suicide public awareness initiatives. Only its ad read: "You're Not Alone. Millions of people love the Big Mac," revealing that the woman is actually crying because she desperately wants a hamburger. The phone number in the bottom right-hand corner leads to McDonald's corporate office.

(Twitter @MzKeating)

Naturally, people who struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts (or know people who have) were upset. McDonald's said it didn't approve the ad, and both McDonald's and advertising agency Arnold Boston apologized for its insensitive nature.

6. Swiffer Debases A Feminist Icon

Rosie The Riveter, pictured below in an iconic ad by Westinghouse Company, emerged as an icon of female strength during World War II, symbolizing the participation of women who worked in America's factories while the men were fighting overseas.

(War Production Co-ordinating Committee )

But this context apparently escaped the folks at Swiffer, who released a newspaper ad in June that depicted a modernized version of Rosie proudly brandishing a Swiffer instead of showing off her biceps. In doing so, Swiffer transformed Rosie from a powerful testament to women's capability in the workplace to a posterchild for their traditional domestic duties.

(swiffer)

Swiffer responded to the resulting backlash with a pair of apology tweets:

(Twitter)

(Twitter)

5. Hyundai Makes Light Of Suicide While Touting Environmentally Friendly Car

Hyundai and its agency Innocean made an ad for the ix35 that showed a depressed man attempting suicide by locking himself in his car with a running exhaust pipe. The kicker is that nothing happens to him because the ix35 emits water, not carbon monoxide, since it is a non-polluting fuel-cell car.

The ad might have been received just fine were it not for the real people who do take their own lives by locking themselves in a car full of carbon monoxide.

A freelance copywriter named Holly Brockwell brought this to Hyundai's attention in a devastating blogpost about how the ad made her recall her father's suicide. Brockwell's letter touched a nerve with people who felt the ad exploited real tragedy to sell cars, and the blogpost was quickly passed around the internet.

Facing a tidal wave of consumer anger, Hyundai apologized shortly after, saying that the ad was created by an affiliated agency without its request or approval.

4. Mountain Dew Partners With Tyler The Creator, Presumably Having Never Heard His Music Before

Since bursting on the scene in 2011 with the eerie, violent hit "Yonkers," (unprintable lyrics here) the rapper Tyler the Creator has carved out a niche for himself as one of the most perverse, explicit, and straight-up nasty artists in the game.

Naturally, Mountain Dew thought Tyler would be the perfect person to handle creative duties on a national advertising campaign.

The result was a flagrantly offensive ad in which a talking goat (voiced by Tyler) intimidates a battered woman out of naming him as her abuser in a police line-up. The other suspects on the lineup were described by the economist and professor Dr. Boyce Watkins as "not just regular black people, but the kinds of ratchety negroes you might find in the middle of any hip-hop minstrel show."

Dr. Watkins' criticism of "arguably the most racist commercial in history" gained traction on the internet, and Mountain Dew ultimately issued an apology. Still, it's sort of incredible to think a major brand gave creative control to a man who's rapped about how he'd "rape a pregnant b----, and tell my friends I had a threesome."

3. Thai Dunkin' Donuts Franchisee Goes With Blackface To Promote 'Charcoal Donut'

Eventually people will learn to stop using blackface, but until then, I suppose we will keep having to write about them every time they do.

In August, Dunkin' Donuts was forced to apologize for an ad by its franchisee in Thailand that used the unfortunate makeup of the minstrel show to promote its chocolate "Charcoal Donut."

(Grant Peck/AP)

Human Rights Watch called the ad "bizarre and racist," and Dunkin' Donuts apologized. However, the owner of the company's Thai franchise, Nadim Salhani, was recalcitrant.

"We're not allowed to use black to promote our doughnuts? I don't get it," he told the Associated Press. "What's the big fuss? What if the product was white and I painted someone white, would that be racist?"

2. Dating Site's Facebook Ad Uses The Absolute Wrong Thumbnail

The Canadian dating site ionechat.com posted an ad in September that included a photo of a young woman beside an offer to "Meet Canadian girls and women for friendship, dating or relationships."

The problem? The woman in the ad was Rehtaeh Parsons, a 17-year-old girl who'd hanged herself five months earlier after photos of her alleged rape were posted online.

(Twitter)

Yikes. Facebook apologized in short order, and banned ionechat.com from advertising on its site.

"This is an extremely unfortunate example of an advertiser scraping an image from the Internet and using it in their ad campaign," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. "This is a gross violation of our ad policies and we have removed the ad and permanently deleted the advertiser's account. We apologize for any harm this has caused."

1. Ford Can't Escape Awful Berlusconi Bondage Ad

The agency JWT India takes this year's title with one of the most disturbing ads we've ever seen. The a print illustration depicts the notoriously scuzzy Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi driving a Ford Figo with a trunk full of buxom women who have been bound and gagged. If you look closely, you can see that the woman in the schoolgirl outfit is crying.

(Ford)

The ad was not approved by Ford, but wound up on the internet when the creative team responsible sent it to the website Ads of the World. Both Ford and JWT wound up issuing an apology for the ad, which was intended to make light of Berlusconi's many affairs by encouraging customers to "leave your worries behind with Figo's extra-large boot."

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