Spotify has been a major vehicle in promoting Latin music to global and mainstream markets -- which made their oops earlier this month that much more visible. The gaffe occurred via a Spotify ad on Instagram that read: "Justin Bieber, Now Latin King."
The online community quickly jumped on it, with many demanding that Spotify pull the ad. And hours later on June 13th, the service did.
"We made a creative decision to feature Justin Bieber in our ad because we wanted to celebrate [Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee's] 'Despacito' as a key cultural moment when music genres cross over," said a Spotify statement published in the New York Daily News. "We realized that this could be seen as culturally insensitive so we have pulled those ads."