Ashton Kutcher commercial pulled off air for being racist

A new commercial starring Ashton Kutcher has been pulled from American airwaves amid claims of racism.

The Two and a Half Men star's television advert for Popchips sees the actor don brown face makeup to play a foolish Bollywood producer.

The clip - which debuted on the Popchips website -- featured Ashton playing a variety of characters in a spoof "dating" commercial.

His collection of roles includes a biker, a hippie, and an Indian man named Raj.

In the Raj parody, the 34-year-old Punk'd producer jokes that he's looking for a woman who is "Kardashian hot ... I would give that dog a bone."

Blogger Anil Dash brought the video to negative public attention, calling it "a hackneyed, unfunny advertisement featuring Kutcher in brownface talking about his romantic options, with the entire punchline being that he's doing it in a fake-Indian outfit and voice."

Anil explained on his blog: "I think the people behind this Popchips ad are not racist. I think they just made a racist ad."
CEO Keith Belling issued a statement saying, "We did not intend to offend anyone. I take full responsibility and apologise to anyone we offended."