‘MAKES YOUR HEART SINK’

New Orleans Police Yank Diverse Ad After Flood of Hate

The 30-second ad, directed by local filmmaker Crista Rock, featured a rainbow of Mardi Gras characters dancing around an officer under the caption: “Everywhere Else Is Cleveland.”

The New Orleans Police Department pulled an inclusive recruitment ad from social media an hour after it was posted because of a flood of hateful reactions. “The video was removed because we did not want anyone to be offended by the negative commentary,” spokesperson Reese Harper told NOLA.com. The 30-second ad, directed by local filmmaker Crista Rock, featured a rainbow of Mardi Gras characters dancing around an officer under the caption: “Everywhere Else Is Cleveland.” Rock said “the immediate reactions were just hate—horrible, slanderous, makes-your-heart-sink type comments, like, ‘The NOPD doesn’t hire sissies. Why are these grown men shaking ass?’” It’s not clear how the ad will be used now.