Popular doughnut chain Dunkin' Donuts is now apologizing for an ad campaign released in Thailand that many interpreted as inappropriate and racist.

The controversial advertisements promote Dunkin' Donuts' new "Charcoal Donut." In the advertisement, a female model is shown in blackface with pink lipstick. The model is shown holding a bitten donut which is placed next to text saying: "Break every rule of deliciousness." in Thai.

Human Rights Watch took offense to the advertisement.

"It's both bizarre and racist that Dunkin' Donuts thinks that it must color a woman's skin black and accentuate her lips with bright pink lipstick to sell a chocolate doughnut," Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Dunkin' Donuts should immediately withdraw this ad, publicly apologize to those it's offended and ensure this never happens again."

According to The Associated Press, racist undertones are common in Thai advertising. For example, a Thai skin whitening cream is depicted in television commercials as way to get more job opportunities. The commercial also says that people with lighter skin have better chances of obtaining jobs than those with darker skin.

On Friday Nadim Salhani, CEO of Dunkin' Donuts Thailand said that the response to the advertisements is "paranoid American thinking" in an interview with The Associated Press.

"It's absolutely ridiculous," Salhani said. "We're not allowed to use black to promote our doughnuts? I don't get it. What's the big fuss? What if the product was white, and I painted someone white, would that be racist?"

It is not just Human Rights Watch, however, that seems to have a problem with the chocolate doughnut ads. "WOW Racist @DunkinDonuts campaign smh What is wrong with people," one man said via Twitter.

Dunkin' Donuts apologized for the advertisement on Aug. 30 via Twitter. "We are working with our Thailand franchisee to immediately pull the ad. DD recognizes the insensitivity of this spot," Dunkin' Donuts said on its Twitter page in response to the above Tweet.

Salhani has lived in Thailand for 20 years and believes that racism in Thai advertising has seen a decrease in recent years. "The broad trend has been to move away from this kind of racist-type advertising," he said. "Unfortunately, this advertisement seems to be a bit of a throwback." 

The advertisement has apparently been a success in Thailand. According to Salhani, doughnut sales for Dunkin' Donuts have increased 50 percent since the release of the ads. "I'm sorry, but this is a marketing campaign, and it's working very well for us," Salhani said.

View the scandalous advertisement here.