Back in 2018, Mike Tyson came under fire for starring in a controversial commercial. 'Iron Mike' appeared in a commercial for Ultra Tune, a car servicing company.
The commercial depicted a girl driving her car with her friends and crashing it on a straight road after being distracted. Then Tyson comes to her aid.
With the commercial being attacked by many across the globe, the former Heavyweight champion appeared on Sunrise Friday Australia to clear the air. However, it looked like 'Iron Mike' seemingly accepted the fact that the ad was indeed "a little sexist".
Upon being repeatedly questioned about the ad, 'Iron Mike' said:
"I can see the ad's being a little sexist, yes..."
Mike Tyson was further asked about whether the concept of a man coming to save women worried him because of its sexist connotations and stereotypical implications. To which he replied by saying:
"No, because it's really all done in fun. People can look at it as being sexist, It is a little sexist, but not enough to make a big stink over!'
Watch the video below:
Ultra Tune's executive chairman defended Mike Tyson's commercial
As mentioned earlier, there was a lot of criticism directed towards Tyson and the company following the release of their commercial. However, Ultra Tune's executive chairman, Sean Buckley, came forward and defended the ad.
While the commercial was under scrutiny, Sean Buckley spoke to News.com.au back in 2018 and suggested that their ad involving Mike Tyson was not sexist at all. He alleged other companies of being sexist and claimed that they are being singled out because they're male-oriented. Ultra Tune's executive chairman said:
“There’s no sexism in the ad, Is it sexism that the head [ambassador] of David Jones is Megan Gale? Is it sexism that Jennifer Hawkins is the brand ambassador for Myer? Is it sexism that Victoria’s Secret has supermodels? We get targeted because we put some attractive girls in a commercial and we’re sexist. Why single us out? Because we’re a male oriented car servicing company doing something a little bit different.”