Ashton Kutcher is learning his lesson the hard way. And, unfortunately not by Demi Moore. Ashton, who appeared in a new advertising campaign for Popchips, portrayed four characters one of which was “Raj,” an Indian man. For the role, he appeared in brown-face, donning a dhoti, using a very bad Indian accent.

Not surprisingly, people took to the web, telling Popchips that the ad is racist. Shortly after, Popchips experienced what we call a “Flash Crisis.” The CEO and Founder of Popchips, Keith Belling issued this half-hearted apology on the company’s blog:

The apology, although swift, highlights two traps that company’s fall into: the but-apology and trying to excuse the company’s actions.

• The “but” apology. It seems that every apology issued with a corresponding “but we didn’t mean too.” (insert link to apology video here). The CEO of Popchips would have been better off to fall on his sword and admit to the mistake instead of trying to justify the campaign with this statement “our team worked hard to create a light-hearted parody.” Needless to say, this apology continued to fuel the fire. In response, consumers posted angry comments on the blog vowing not to purchase the product because of this incident.

• Excuses, excuses. Rather than simply admitting a mistake, many CEO’s are trying to cover their tracks or pass the buck. While in some cases, this may be a last-resort tactic recommended by the legal department, it most often will result in more questions, negativity and distrust among consumers, further exacerbating the crisis. While a safe approach to avoid litigation, the company will ultimately loose in the court of public opinion.

While both of these traps are defensive actions and often backfire, no one can deny that controversy creates brand recognition. Plenty of media covered the campaign and continues to do so, which begs an important question. Is this ad campaign a veiled attempt by the company to create controversy and word of mouth marketing? Will this ad stop you from buying Popchips?

Let us know what you think.