German automaker Volkswagen has apologized for the outrage on the Internet after the release of its new, highly racist advertising campaign.
Recently, Volkswagen unveiled a ten-second ad that made people jump. And for good reason, we could see a big white hand pushing a black man, far from a Volkswagen Golf yellow, parked on the street. The scene takes place in front of a baptized cafe "Petit Colon" in which the man is thrown at the end of the video. If this is already particularly shocking, that is not all. While the slogan "Der neue Golf"meaning "The new Golf" in German appears little by little, we can then read the word "Neger"which means"Negro".
The ad sparked outrage on the web. Many shocked internet users did not fail to express their disgust in accusing the German automaker of racism. "Basically: Volkswagen (the white) takes a black on the street, and releases it from there, far from the new Golf. With a little laugh … The whole ideology conveyed here is IGNOBLE, RACISTE, VOMIRc! "," It's ultra creepy and racist, I'm boycotting Volkswagen, just look at the details: the white hand, the restaurant "petit colon ”The weird laughter behind ????", "Volkswagen racism what is it? Do we fight every day to see such big brands being racist in such an uninhibited way? A shame", could we read in particular on Twitter.
Volkswagen then withdrew the advertisement because the company "can understand outrage and anger " that the video sparked. "Without a doubt: the video is inappropriate and tasteless. We will clarify how an event like this could have happened, and there will be consequences.", said the automaker in a press release, saying that the company Volkswagen, founded during the reign of the Nazi party and known as "the people's car ", is now looking to "stand against all forms of racism, xenophobia and discrimination".
Representatives of the brand first tried to defend their online advertising, claiming that the video had been misinterpreted. "As you can imagine, we are surprised and shocked that our Instagram video could be so misunderstood", wrote the company on Instagram. But immediately, Internet users responded by assuring that no one had misunderstood the advertisement but thatit was simply "of racist miscommunication."
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