An online ad featuring Ashton Kutcher as an Indian man has been pulled offline after viewers called it racist. 
 
 FILE - Actor Ashton Kutcher poses for photographers at the premiere of "Open Season" in Los Angeles, in this Sept. 25, 2006 file photo. An online ad featuring Ashton Kutcher as an Indian man has been... (Associated Press) 
 
 The images and video for Popchips feature the 34-year-old "Two and a Half Men" star in brown makeup portraying a Bollywood producer named Raj who is "looking for love." They were removed from YouTube and Facebook after being criticized online. 
 
 Other videos featuring Kutcher as a stoner, tattooed Southerner and pasty fashionista remain online. 
 
 A spokeswoman for Popchips says the dating parody featuring the four characters was "created to provoke a few laughs and was never intended to stereotype or offend anyone." She added that the company hopes "people can enjoy this in the spirit it was intended." 
 
 A spokeswoman for Kutcher hasn't return messages seeking comment. 

 Gather round, friends, and let's have ourselves a chitchat about Ashton Kutcher's ad campaign for Pop Chips snacks, where he plays different characters of different nationalities and ethnicities — notably, an Indian character. It's so very funny: 
 
 Wait, not funny. Discomfitingly racist. This was not the take-home message from many news outlets, mind you: The New York Times didn't mention it; the New York Daily News didn't mention it; the New York Post says that his "skin is darkened by makeup;" E! doesn't care; the Seattle PI doesn't care; Us Weekly posted a beefcake shot of Kutcher getting done up in brownface; People didn't mention it. And yet, yikes. 
 
 But he was joking; but he makes fun of other accents, too; but it's not racist, it's just silly; you are too sensitive; not everything is about race — nope! Not acceptable! Jokes can still be racist! It's 2012, folks. Does this ad use imagery that is primarily seen elsewhere as a means to degrade and marginalize people? It sure does. 
 
 "I can't imagine I have to explain this to anyone in 2012, but if you find yourself putting brown makeup on a white person in 2012 so they can do a bad 'funny' accent in order to sell potato chips, you are on the wrong course," writes tech hero Anil Dash in a terrific and forward-looking analysis of the ad. "Make some different decisions." 
 
 Interestingly, as recently as 6 p.m. today, Pop Chips had separate ads up on YouTube for each of Kutcher's different characters, including an extended-play audience with Raj. But by shortly after 7 p.m., they had all been marked "Private" and are inaccessible. Perhaps different decisions are being made very quickly. UPDATE: And it looks like all of the other videos with Kutcher's other characters spotlighted individually are back up, but Raj's remains taken down. 

 [There was a video here] 
 
 Popchips today launched a new ad campaign co-developed by and starring their newly elected "president of pop" Ashton Kutcher as five different lovelorn men looking for that special someone with the aid of a dating video from "World Wide Lovers." 
 
 One of these "characters" is an Indian man named Raj. That fact isn't in and of itself offensive. But Kutcher and Popchips broke the cardinal rule of racial humor: If you're going to make a joke about a race other than your own, for the love of God be funny about it. 
 
 These spots are both excruciatingly unfunny and, in the case of "Raj," also in poor taste — two things you definitely don't want in an ad campaign for a food product. 
 
 Oh, an in case you thought you could escape Kutcher in brownface by not watching this video, The New York Times says outdoor ads will be popping up in major markets all across the country. 
 
 UPDATE: Following a thoughtful piece by Anil Dash criticizing Popchips usage of brownface in their latest ad campaign, the company's founder, Keith Belling, apologized "to anyone we offended," and promptly pulled the ad. Snippets of "Raj" still remain in this composite ad, but it too will likely be removed shortly and revised. 
 
 [Pop Chips] 

 UPDATE: The company posts a mea culpa and takes the spot down. 
 
 After initially standing by a new ad featuring Ashton Kutcher in brownface, acting as a send-up of an Indian Bollywood producer, popchips has pulled the spot and apologized. 
 
 "We received a lot feedback about the dating campaign parody we launched today and appreciate everyone who took the time to share their point of view," Keith Belling, the founder and CEO of the company, wrote in a note posted on the company's website. "Our team worked hard to create a light-hearted parody featuring a variety of characters that was meant to provide a few laughs. We did not intend to offend anyone. I take full responsibility and apologize to anyone we offended." 
 
 Earlier on Thursday, in a statement given to The Hollywood Reporter, a popchips spokesperson said that the advertisement -- one of four spots that features Kutcher as different characters, each in a dating video -- should be enjoyed with good humor. 
 
 "The new popchips worldwide dating video and ad campaign featuring four characters was created to provoke a few laughs and was never intended to stereotype or offend anyone," the rep wrote. "At popchips we embrace all types of shapes, flavors and colors, and appreciate all snackers, no matter their race or ethnicity. We hope people can enjoy this in the spirit it was intended." 
 
 The rep for popchips also noted that the ads are not running on television, and were intended as "a fun online campaign." 
 
 The ad has been slammed by numerous commentators, including tech blogger Anil Dash, who sent out a series of critical tweets, beginning with, "Hey, startups that are helping @aplusk get richer, can you tell him that racist brownface ads aren't cool? Thanks!" 
 
 Kutcher's Twitter handle is @aplusk.
– A Popchips ad featuring Ashton Kutcher playing an Indian man in brownface has been yanked after complaints of racism, the AP reports. (Gawker notes that a "composite" version of the ad, which still features clips of the character, remains available on YouTube.) The ad, designed to look like a commercial for a dating service, "was created to provoke a few laughs and was never intended to stereotype or offend anyone," a rep for the snack company says in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter. "At Popchips we embrace all types of shapes, flavors, and colors, and appreciate all snackers, no matter their race or ethnicity. We hope people can enjoy this in the spirit it was intended." A sample of the reactions: "I can't imagine I have to explain this to anyone in 2012, but if you find yourself putting brown makeup on a white person in 2012 so they can do a bad ‘funny’ accent in order to sell potato chips, you are on the wrong course," writes Anil Dash in a lengthy and thoughtful blog post detailing how Popchips should respond. Dash, Margaret Lyons at Vulture, and Erin Gloria Ryan at Jezebel all point out that the initial media coverage of the ad made no mention whatsoever of its offensiveness. Lyons goes on to call the ad "discomfitingly racist," noting that it uses "imagery that is primarily seen elsewhere as a means to degrade and marginalize people." And it’s not even funny, Ryan adds. "I defy you to watch the spot without feeling like you want to crawl out of your skin so you can crawl back inside and hide until it's over. It's that bad."