German automaker, Volkswagen, known for cars under the VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche brands, has apologized for a racist advert that it posted on its Instagram page to promote the new Golf 8 car.
The video which had a pair of oversized white hands drags a black man from Volkswagen’s new Golf 8, before flicking him into a restaurant called Petit Colon, which translates from French as the Little Colonist or Little Settler, has since been deleted.
As the words “DER NEUE GOLF” (the new Golf) appear on the screen, the letters N E G E R fade in before any other — which many critics pointed out translates to the N-word in German.
Following the public bashing, Volkswagen’s board member for sales and marketing, Juergen Stackmann and Elke Heitmueller, head of diversity management, took to Twitter and LinkedIn to apologise.
“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,” they wrote.
Stackmann and Heitmuller also referred to the company’s history of employing forced labour during the Nazi regime. Volkswagen was founded in 1937 by the Nazi government and used slave labor from concentration camps to build vehicles in its early years.
“We at Volkswagen are aware of the historical origins and the guilt of our company during the Nazi regime. That is precisely why we resolutely oppose all forms of hatred, slander/propaganda and discrimination.”
Reuters reported that a Volkswagen spokesman said agencies usually produce its advertising campaigns and it was investigating where the mistake happened and would go public when it found out.