the Board of the German automobile giant, Volkswagen has publicly lamented an advertisement, which was published at the vehicle manufacturer’s Instagram page, as the advertisement was accused of being racist.
It writes Reuters.
Volkswagen stresses that the clip was published because of a lack of cultural understanding, rather than with racist intentions.
– We can determine that the racist intentions not played any role. The reason was a lack of sensitivity and procedure says Hiltrud Werner, Volkswagen’s executive board member for integrity and legal affairs, in a statement.
– On behalf of the board I want to formally apologize to have hurt people as a result of a lack of intercultural sensitivity, ” says Werner.
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In the clip you can see a black man at the side of the new Volkswagen Golf. The man is being pushed around and moved by a big, white hand, which then plucks the black man into a building with the sign of ‘Petit Colon’.
Petit Colon is according to Reuters, a café located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In French is translated ‘Petit Colon’ to ‘small settler, and it can be perceived racist. In addition, believe critics of the clip, the white hand, which controls the black man, can be seen as an expression of white supremacy.
You can see the clip at the Independent.co.uk here.
Jürgen Stackmann, who is responsible for Volkswagen’s marketing, said according to Reuters, that he first thought that the advertisement was false.
– We are rightly accused of a lack of intercultural sensitivity here, and as a member of the board of directors with responsibility for marketing and post-marketing I take the responsibility for it. I will personally ensure that training is given, to a mangfoldighedsudvalg be consulted, and that the controls be improved, he says.
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