Audi motif with anger: Confused advertised?
Photo:Audi
A little girl confidently leans against daddy's car, eats a banana and looks cool thanks to her sunglasses. What can go wrong with such an advertisement?
That is what those responsible at automaker Audi may have thought. And honestly added a little horsepower lyrics, which are so typical of the German car industry: "Let your heart beat faster - in every aspect", for example: Makes your heart beat faster - in every respect.
But the heartbeat of many recipients rose differently than expected: They got excited. Some recognized a lolita pose in the child model's pose and a phallus in the banana - repulsive, especially with this slogan. Others clashed at the meeting of the toddler and the radiator grille: out on the streets, things too often end up deadly for the children; the ever larger cars meant that small road users were easily overlooked. The proportions in the photo seem to confirm this, and this is not even the heaviest Audi model.
Finally, Audi apologized and announced that it would withdraw the motif (it can still be seen on the brand's Twitter account as of Friday). How much such an action harms the manufacturer - difficult to say. Anyone who is bothered by aggressive car models is probably not inclined to buy the advertised 450 PS station wagon anyway. Many, including readers of the SPIEGEL forum, find the excitement exaggerated. On the other hand, a brand can hardly be indifferent to such a faux pas, unless it was aimed at provocation. Audi did not make the impression with its apology.
After all, Audi is not alone with such slip-ups. Although that's hardly consoling: We have collected half a dozen other aggravations from the past few years, and some are clearly more annoying. And one of them comes from the same group as Audi, namely Volkswagen.
Racist Golf?
It wasn't until May that VW advertised the new Golf with a series of Instagram films. Big filmed hands shoved small filmed people through the picture, next to it the advertised compact car. One film, however, disturbed the audience: The pushing hand was white, the pushing hand was black, and when the text "The new Golf" is faded in, you don't see all the letters immediately, but first the letters N, E, G, E and R.
Twitter user friesiii asked how you can do so much wrong in ten seconds. The anger was also great internationally, especially since the writing "Petit Colon" ("little settler") appears, which was interpreted as an allusion to colonial history.
VW apologized and announced an internal investigation. In the end, there was no dismissal as a consequence, as some angry commentators had suggested. According to VW, there was a lack of sensitivity, but none of those involved could detect any bad intentions.
Monkey sweater
The fashion group H&M has also embarrassed itself with racist advertising. A green hooded sweater was shown, with the words "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle". The fact that a boy with black skin was wearing this sweater in the photos enraged many. The fashion blogger Stephanie Yeboah criticized that it was well known that "monkey" was a widespread "racist slur" for black people.
The photo was noticed in 2018 in a British online shop of the brand. The photo was only made worse by the contrast: In the same collection, a sweater with the imprint "Survival Expert" was presented by a white child model. The Canadian musician The Weeknd immediately took action and ended his collaboration with H&M; by then he had had his own collection and had modeled for the Swedish brand himself. H&M apologized.
Concentration camp look for children
A children's shirt from the Spanish brand Zara four years earlier was at least as shocking. Here the horror did not arise from the combination of shirt and carrier - the product alone was the problem.
The blue horizontal stripes resembled convict clothing, the large yellow star with six points on the chest was reminiscent of the so-called Jewish star with which the Nazis branded people from 1935 onwards. It was hard to tell that the star said "Sheriff" (and why would a sheriff wear convict clothes?). On the other hand, many recognized the clothing of concentration camp prisoners (even if they were striped lengthways).
"The design of the t-shirt was only inspired by sheriff stars from classic westerns, as it is said in the product description," said Zara parent company Inditex at the time. But the impression was devastating, as was the criticism of the makers, not only on social media. "The shirt appears as a disgusting, secret swipe at Jewish survivors of the Holocaust," wrote a commentator for the US weekly "The Jewish Press". Inditex withdrew the product.
Handbag with swastikas
In 2007, Zara had already gone wrong with symbols from the Third Reich: There were several green swastikas on a handbag. Here, too, the product was quickly removed from the range.
The explanation that Inditex gave at the time was, however, not very flattering: the handbag would have been sold by a supplier, the swastikas were not visible when the decision was made. That doesn't sound like particularly strict product controls.
There is space on the smallest bike path
In comparison, this Opel faux pas is a harmless caliber: Last year, the automaker wanted to know from its Twitter followers how they felt when they saw the Grandland X model. Not without risk in themselves, because voluminous SUVs like the Grandland are sold en masse in Germany, but they are also often criticized for their space-consuming format. However, the photo that Opel put on the appeal was really clumsy:
The car is parked in the middle of the bike path and partly on a hatched area. Not only is this illegal, it is also annoying for all cyclists in the daily battle for space on the streets. "Get off the bike path!" Was one of the friendlier comments.
"Of course, the photos were taken in a cordoned off area," Opel tried to smooth things over in a statement. "Nevertheless we apologize for this faux pas."
Breathtaking internal combustion engine
The following scandal is perhaps just honest:
BMW would like to sell its 8 series as particularly sporty, which also means that such a 600-hp car is not optimized for low exhaust emissions. This can be found breathtaking in many ways.
Doubtful craft in the Bundeswehr
"Gas, water, shit" - that is a quote from the "Werner" comics, with Klempner Röhrich you answer the phone. The Bundeswehr thought it was fun to use "Gas, Water, Shooting" to attract new recruits, preferably those who have already learned something manual.
Here, too, there was trouble, around a year ago, and on several levels at the same time: Trade representatives encountered unexpected competition when recruiting skilled workers. They also thought that the Röhrich quote would make their work look ridiculous; At least they didn't want to put up with that from the Bundeswehr. And finally: combinations of the military and the term "gas" repeatedly trigger associations with the Holocaust, and criticism rained here too. But you find that far-fetched in the Bundeswehr.
Icon: The mirror
