Apple removed a same-sex couple from some of the international versions of its Mother's Day ad (AAPL)

YouTube/Apple

Apple appears to have edited out an image of a same-sex couple in some of the international versions of its latest Mother's Day ad.

The tech company first posted the "Shot on iPhone — Mother's Day" video to its US YouTube page on May 1.

The ad runs through a sequence of images and short videos, "celebrating motherhood." It is set to the soundtrack of "Because You Are Who You Are," by K.S. Rhoads.

Among the many pictures of children and their mothers in the US version is a sweet image of a same-sex female couple lying down and smiling at the camera, alongside two babies.

Here's the US version of the 30-second ad:

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/NFFLEN90aeI
Width: 560px
Height: 315px

But as French title Jeanne Magazine first reported, the image of the couple appears to have been cut from the French version of the video.

To make up for lost time, the French version includes two different images to the US video: A black-and-white image of a pregnant lady and an image of a woman lying in bed, kissing her small baby.

Youtube Embed:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/wFw72uqpT-g
Width: 560px
Height: 315px

BuzzFeed points out that the same-sex couple — which it identifies as Instagram stars Melanie and Vanessa Roy (which goes with the "by Vanessa R." caption in the ad) — also don't appear in the German, Italian, Turkish, and Japanese versions of the ad.

It's not unusual for Apple to run different versions of an ad in different markets. However, it is strange that this particular image was omitted only in certain geographies — especially from a company that has made very public commitments to fostering inclusion and diversity across the business.

Apple hasn't yet explained its reasoning. The company was not immediately available to comment when contacted by Business Insider. BuzzFeed reported that Apple declined to comment.

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