The Red Cross were forced to apologise on Monday for a pool-safety poster which came across as apparently racist.

The poster features animated scenarios in a pool labeled either cool or not cool with the headline "Be Cool, Follow the Rules.” It’s all pretty innocent so far. The problem, however, seems pretty blatantly that all the “cool” scenes are white children and the majority of the “not cool” scenes are black children. The Red Cross admit the poster was from an older campaign and in a statement released on their website, the organisation has apologised. They say the poster has been removed from all existing campaigns and partnering organisations and businesses have been asked to discard of the poster.

The American Red Cross appreciates and is sensitive to the concerns raised regarding one of the water safety posters we produced. We deeply apologize for any misunderstanding, as it was absolutely not our intent to offend anyone. As one of the nation’s oldest and largest humanitarian organizations, we are committed to diversity and inclusion in all that we do, every day. To this end, we have removed the poster from our website and Swim App and have discontinued production. We have notified all of our partner aquatic facilities requesting they take down the poster. Our organization has emphasized to our partners and on social media that it was absolutely not our intent to offend anyone and apologized for this inadvertent action. We are currently in the process of completing a formal agreement with a diversity advocacy organization for their guidance moving forward.

Twitter user John Sawyer shared the image, only to be questioned by other users believing the image to be sufficient.

Hey, @RedCross, send a new pool poster to @SalidaRec bc the current one they have w your name on it is super racist pic.twitter.com/TY8MmFB3Qk

— John Sawyer (@JSawyer330) June 21, 2016

@RedCross @JSawyer330 HOW THE FUCK IS THIS RACIST!? — StefanR47 (@RedlichTVx) June 26, 2016

@LauraEllenMSW how is this poster racist?

— Chuck Dobner (@Unashamed_Chuck) June 26, 2016

How is this "super racist"?@JSawyer330 @RedCross @SalidaRec pic.twitter.com/g5IHslBnVl — Jo⭐ (@timeforgravy) June 27, 2016

@SprinklePetunia That makes it a work of fantasy

— Jo⭐ (@timeforgravy) June 27, 2016

@JSawyer330 My version is many things, but I don't believe it's racist. — Rob Ullman (@robullman) June 27, 2016

.@JSawyer330 This is an actual example of racism. @RedCross @SalidaRec pic.twitter.com/YRHM7uKu23

— Sleepy Poptart (@popup82) June 27, 2016

@JSawyer330 @RedCross @SalidaRec pretty much. pic.twitter.com/GuHSYv2xgU — BREXIT (@Articulatewhite) June 26, 2016

@jsawyer330 @redcross @salidarec This isn't racist you over-sensitive fruitcakes!

— Michael Young (@JiffyCones) June 26, 2016

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