Did Santa Get COVID? UK Health Service Pulls Controversial Ad

The U.K.'s National Health Service has apologized for releasing an ad about COVID-19 that involved St. Nick being struck with the illness.

The ad in question showed a man in the emergency room who had a white beard and was unconscious. Throughout the commercial, viewers watch as the man gets nursed back to health. In the end, he is revealed to be Santa Claus.

This video was made for the NHS Charities Together organization, which raises funds for the health care system through non-profits, HuffPost reports. Giving thanks to those who’ve worked on the front-lines during the pandemic was the meaning behind the public service announcement.

It turns out that many parents in the U.K. were upset with the PSA because even though it’s about giving back. Those angered by the advert claim it was unsettling to children to see Santa battling a virus that’s killed over a million people.

After all the backlash the ad received, its creators and NHS officials decided to take it down and apologize.

“We are sorry to the parents of any young children who have been upset by watching the ad and to the young children themselves. They were not the intended audience for it,” the officials stated.

There’s only been a few users, out of thousands, that found nothing wrong with it or considered it to be comical.

The video is still able to be seen on various websites, like HuffPost and DailyMail.