Volkswagen's Golf car advertisement was withdrawn from its official Instagram page after sparking a racism row. According to The Guardian's latest report, the car company admitted that the advertisement was insulting and racist, and stated that it would investigate how it came about.
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Volkswagen clarified that it does not tolerate any form of racism. Five years ago, however, the company admitted that it cheated on diesel emission tests which tarnished its reputation.
According to The Guardian's 2015 report, the car company made its cars appear less polluting to cheat in emission tests. 482,000 Volkswagen diesel cars on American roads were discovered by the US Environmental Protection Agency emitting up to 40 times more toxic fumes than permitted. The company admitted that their actions affected 11 million cars around the world.
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The image of Volkswagen is once again tarnished after this new advertisement, featuring a woman's large, pale-skinned hands that seem to be flicking and pushing a black man back and forth away from a shiny new, yellow Golf car that parked on the street.
At the end of the ad, the white hand flicks the man into a cafe called "Petit Colon," which shows colonial overtones. Jaunty music, along with sound effects resembling a computer game can be heard in the background.
Volkswagen removed its Golf car advertisement from its Instagram page after sparking racism concerns
According to The Guardian, a German television show noted that the large white hand in the golf car advertisement could be interpreted as showing the "white power" gesture, and the name of the cafe shop that can be seen at the end of the video briefly spells out a racist slur in German.
According to The Telegraph's latest report, the German car company was forced to make an apology on Wednesday, May 1..
Many social media users who spotted other disturbing features, quickly seized the video. Although the company made an apology, it was considered a half-hearted one after Volkswagen claimed that the origins of the people's depiction of its advertisement were irrelevant.
"We understand the public outrage at this. Because we're horrified, too. This video is an insult to all achievements of the civil rights movement. It is an insult to every decent person," said Elke Heitmueller, head of Volkswagen's diversity management.
Volkswagen employed laborers for the Nazi war effort after the orders of Adolf Hitler to build the "people's car." A spokesperson of the German car company explained that the advertising campaigns of Volkswagen are usually produced by other agencies, clarifying that they will further investigate what happened to identify the mistake.
