Malaysia banned a Toyota ad featuring Brad Pitt

In 2002, Malaysian authorities pulled a Toyota advertisement featuring Brad Pitt from circulation. The deputy information minister at the time explained that using Western faces could insult Asians and create a sense of inferiority. The popular version that the ad was banned simply because Pitt was “too handsome” oversimplifies his remarks: contemporary reports focused on foreign faces in advertising and the perceived insult to local audiences.