--- title: "The North Face Vandalized Wikipedia, Then Apologized After Outcry" description: "North Face has officially apologized for uploading images of remote locations with models wearing North Face swag in them to Wikipedia." date: "2019-05-31" modified: "2019-05-31" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/north-face-wikipedia-apology" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "advertising" - "the digest" - "wikipedia" --- # The North Face Vandalized Wikipedia, Then Apologized After Outcry ![North Face has officially apologized for uploading images of remote locations with models wearing North Face swag in them to Wikipedia.]() *\Image: The North Face/Victor Tangermann\* ## Public Apology Outdoor clothing brand The North Face has [officially apologized]() for uploading images of remote locations — complete with models wearing its swag — to Wikipedia in an effort to score cheap publicity points. What brought the "hack" to light was a [boastful video]() from *Ad Age* bragging that the images were boosted to the top of Google Images by Google's search engine algorithms. "We hacked the results to reach one of the most difficult places: the top of the world’s largest search engine," read the original video. Needless to say, the Wikipedia community met the video with outrage. "When The North Face exploits the trust you have in Wikipedia to sell you more clothes, you should be angry," read a [Wikimedia Foundation statement](). The brand shouldn't have "risked your trust in our mission for a short-lived marketing stunt." ## Ad "Hack" Shortly after Ad Age released the video, North Face's photos were quickly removed from Wikipedia. "We believe deeply in Wikipedia’s mission and apologize for engaging in activity inconsistent with those principles," North Face's official Twitter account [tweeted on Wednesday](). “What The North Face and Leo Burnett did wasn't clever or impressive — it was duplicitous, using Wikipedia's openness against it, and in fact was directly contradictory to Wikipedia's Terms of Use," William Beutler, CEO of agency Beutler Ink and a volunteer Wikipedia editor [told *Ad Age*](). **READ MORE:** [North Face Apologizes for Showing Us the Future of Marketing]() \[*Gizmodo*\] **More on advertising:** *[This Startup Wants to Launch Giant Glowing Ads Into the Night Sky]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()