Spike it Up!

Spike Lee’s latest film, Bamboozled, has stirred

controversy with a print ad campaign that uses a caricature of a grinning young black girl holding a

watermelon.

The ads, which were created by Art Sims’ design firm, 11:24 Advertising, were deemed offensive by the The New York Times, which refused to run them.

As it happens, the film is a satirical comedy that attacks the type of stereotypical imagery found in the ad.

Sims, who has developed the print ads for all of Lee’s films, maintains that the campaign is a direct reflection of the movie’s content—as well as an honest glimpse into American history.