KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 — Local production house Grim Film apologised today for the video it made for GrabCar’s #GrabitBeatit breast cancer awareness campaign, after viewers accused it of objectifying women and disrespecting breast cancer patients.

According to Grim Film, it has removed the video titled “What if BOOBS don’t exist?” hosted on YouTube, admitting that it did not consider the sensitivities in its promotional video.

“It is our fault for not giving this enough thought. We originally intended to use exaggerated sexualisation and cheeky, politically incorrect humour to help spread the campaign to a wider audience, and we never meant to trivialise the issue, or tease several parties, especially those who have survived or are still battling cancer,” it said on its official Facebook page.

The 3:15-minute-long video hashtagged #nenepok had featured men replacing scantily-clad women to illustrate a world where “breasts do not exist”.

“We understand that the backlash is a sign that there are many out there who understand how serious this topic is, and as much as we have learned from the past few days, we hope that the people who have supported the video would also understand better what Breast Cancer is and how it affects the lives of people having it and those around them,” it added.

Yesterday, GrabCar, a unit of the MyTeksi cab-booking service, prompted outrage after it pushed a message saying, “Love boobs? So does cancer,” to users as part of the campaign that was denounced by users for for being “distasteful” and “sexist”.

It later apologised after the tongue-in-cheek message drew heavy criticism on the Internet, and had also dissociated itself from the video made by Grim Film.

The campaign was part of regional campaign that also runs at other countries where MyTeksi operates as GrabTaxi: Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

In Malaysia, users can donate RM30 to receive a “Pink Kit” which includes an instruction card for breast self-examination, badges, and a white T-shirt designed by local brand Pestle & Mortar with the words “LOVE BOOBS” in pink emblazoned on the chest.

The T-shirt is also available at online retailer Zalora Malaysia, and GrabCar says all proceeds will go to the Breast Cancer Welfare Association.