Volkswagen forced to pull highly ‘racist’ ad for its new Golf
German car company Volkswagen has been forced to pull a social media advertisement and issue an apology after the campaign had alleged racist undertones.
The 10-second ad posted on Twitter and Instagram shows a huge white hand pushing a black man away from a new yellow Volkswagen Gold parked on the street, then moving him to an open doorway and flicking him inside a French café.
Viewers also noticed that as the German-language slogan “Der Neue Golf” – “The New Golf” – fades from view, the jumble of letters can be read as a racial slur for a brief moment.
To make matters worse, the café is named Petit Colon, which means “Little Colonist” in French.
Volkswagen said it “can understand the outrage and anger” over the video.
"Without question: the video is inappropriate and tasteless," Volkswagen said.
"We will clarify how something like this could happen, and there will be consequences."
The Wolfsburg-based company established under the Nazis to create “the people’s car,” said that given its history it had always sought to “position itself against all forms of racism, xenophobia and discrimination.”
"Many initiatives in the company and in our global workforce promote diversity, integration and unprejudiced cooperation," Volkswagen said.
"That makes it all the more annoying that we made this mistake."