TORONTO -- A car dealership in Ontario has apologized after using a photo of two people shaking hands while wearing face masks in a flyer for a sales event.
In a statement to CTV News Toronto, Nissan Canada said its dealership in Newmarket used the "publicly available stock advertising image" for a flyer but it has since been removed.
Shaking hands has been discouraged by health officials since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic because it can easily help spread the virus.
"We have contacted the dealership and they are removing it from their store immediately given the conflicting message and inappropriateness of the image," Nissan Canada said. "This was not intentional and the dealer has apologized for their actions."
The ad wasn't pulled from the dealership before it caught the attention of some people, who dubbed it a "marketing fail."
"Shaking my head over this shaking of hands," one person wrote on Twitter Thursday morning.
Nissan Canada said all COVID-19 precautions like physical distancing and sanitation processes are in place in their showroom and service areas.
Public health experts, most notably Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House pandemic taskforce, has even debated whether it’s time to phase out handshaking completely – even when the pandemic is over.
READ MORE: Will COVID-19 mark the death of the handshake?
He said that has people transition into the new normal "don't ever shake anybody's hands."
