American fashion giant GAP has set an example how to treat racism and won praises for its effort to curb it. The incident happened when Photographer Robert Gerhardt saw a defaced GAP advertisement billboard in the Bronx, New York and posted the picture online.

The picture showed a Sikh model Waris Ahluwalia in black turban posing with a white model Quentin Jones. But the advert was spoiled by a graffiti which changed the tagline from "make love" to "make bombs" and scribbled "please stop driving taxis."

The picture was shared on Facebook and from there it ended up on Twitter by Arsalan Iftikhar, a senior editor at Islamic Monthly. Within a few hours GAP contacted him directly to know about the whereabouts of the defaced picture with an intention to change it.

PHOTO: On this GAP subway ad featuring a Sikh man...Vandals have written "Make Bombs" & "Please stop driving taxis" pic.twitter.com/yvw2vhfexW

— Arsalan Iftikhar™ (@TheMuslimGuy) November 25, 2013


"Hi there. Thanks for informing us. Can you please follow & DM us? We'd like to know the location of this," GAP responded on Twitter to the photograph.

GAP representatives told the Daily Mail that they're in the process to put a fresh poster in the New York subway and take away the defaced one. The American retailer went one step ahead and changed its Twitter background to feature Ahluwalia and Jones. This step not only brought praises for the American retailer but also highlighted how one can handle racist comments professionally.

The social media also responded in the same way as GAP did and many people changed their Twitter backgrounds with praises for GAP and its efforts. Around 2000 people have also joined a Facebook page called "GAP, Thank you for featuring a Sikh model in your 'Make Love' campaign."

"I have to say that the best part about the company's response to this social media campaign is that it currently has the Sikh model as their current Twitter background photo below," Iftikhar wrote in his column in Daily Beast.

The American retail giant may actually benefit from this effort as many people are seeing GAP as their next shopping destination.

"This summer I am going to shop #Gap, a little contribution towards their anti-racist support," wrote a Twitter user, Viktor.

What do you think of GAP's approach to curb racism?