MANILA -- The agency behind the viral Belo Medical Group ad publicly apologized for creating a video that "caused distress to a considerate number of people."

In a Facebook post, Gigil said it shares responsibility following the backlash from the ad, which depicted a woman's physical transformation while stuck at home due to the coronavirus-induced quarantine.

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"We were insensitive. We are sorry to the people whom we hurt," it said.

"We will learn from this, and we will do better," added the agency, which rose to fame last year for its viral commercial for a soft drink brand.

Belo Medical Group has taken down the ad, dubbed "Pandemic Effect," and has issued an apology on its social media pages.

"We hear you. You helped us see what we failed to see, which is that the film is insensitive and upsetting. Because of this, we have taken the ad down," it said.

"We commit ourselves to learning from this and to bring our learnings into the future."

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