Polish Microsoft blunder becomes betting game

After Microsoft was caught editing an Afro-American out of a recent Polish advertisement, a UK bookmaker is taking bets on the company’s next move.

Today Microsoft has issued an apology after it was discovered that the software giant had superimposed the image of a white man on an Afro-American’s body for a promotional image.

The American edition of the advert shows three workers sitting around a table; each being of a different race.

The Polish edition of that very same image, however, has removed the Afro-American’s face and inserted a white person’s. Those who had edited the photo appeared to have forgotten to alter the Afro-American’s hands, which remained black.

Comparisons of the two images began to fire across Twitter and Facebook before ending up in online publications.

Not one to miss out on an opportunity, online bookmaker Paddy Power is now asking punters which racial assortment will appear on the upcoming adverts for MS Office 2010.

The bookmaker reckons that a racially diverse mix of white, Afro-American and Asian actors is most likely, giving odds of 11/10.

Second favorite at 9/4 is “a white and Afro-American double act”, followed close behind by white-only at 4/1.

Least favorite is an assortment of White and Asian actors – the very same racial collection that were found on the doctored Polish advert.