Carleton student association pulls profanity-laden, pro-vote video
Carleton University's student association has pulled and apologized for a expletive-filled YouTube video urging students to vote in the upcoming federal election.
Their video, entitled "I'm Gunna Vote" was a parody of the 2009 Lonely Island video "I'm on a boat."
It included lines like "I'm gonna vote, b---h."
Criticism to the video was swift online.
The Ottawa Citizen called it "painfully earnest" while Vice referred to it as the "most embarrassing music video in Canadian History."
Entire Reddit threads were dedicated to ripping the video apart.
On Friday, Carleton University Students' Association president Fahd Alhattab posted on Facebook that the video was supposed engage post-secondary students and encourage them to vote in the Oct. 19 election.
"In many ways we feel that we have been able to start a conversation about youth democratic engagement and in many ways we have also faltered," he wrote.
"It was fun, engaging, artistic, and edgy and targeted at a demographic that has a history of not participating in the democratic process."
He went on to acknowledge: "...we may not have hit the nail on the head."
"For all those offended and to those in our community who feel the video does not effectively represent Carleton University, we sincerely apologize. We recognize that this does not necessarily change the opinion or perspective of those who may view our actions in a negative light," said Alhattab.
The video is no longer on YouTube, but other versions are still floating around online.
