Snapchat Bob Marley Filter Criticized As 'Digital Blackface'

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Video and photo messaging app Snapchat tends to be on the edge of trying new things, but a special effect introduced on Wednesday to mark 420 Day got developers in hot water for possibly being half baked.

The app --which was initially designed and launched by its creators in 2011 while attending Stanford -- released a special filter that superimposed Bob Marley's face on the user's face.

The backlash started on Twitter early Wednesday.

People were calling it out online for being "insensitive" and likened it to "digital blackface." Critics said it also reduces the iconic artist to just being a pot head.

A Snapchat representative responded to the outcry Wednesday afternoon, according to an article on Forbes.com.

"The lens we launched today was created in partnership with the Bob Marley Estate, and gives people a new way to share their appreciation for Bob Marley and his music. Millions of Snapchatters have enjoyed Bob Marley's music, and we respect his life and achievements," the Snapchat spokesperson wrote in an email to Forbes.