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Citroën withdraws commercial in Egypt after severe criticism

2021-12-30T18:46:09.674Z


A pop star brakes in a Citroën because of a woman - and snaps her secretly with a camera in the car. This supposedly "beautiful moment" in a commercial turned into a PR disaster for the car company.


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Citroën dealer (symbol): »They encourage sexual harassment«

Photo: Vincent Isore / imago images / IP3press

Car manufacturers around the world seem to be slowly but surely losing their instinct to cross social boundaries.

Last year Audi caused a shit storm with the picture of a little girl in front of a radiator grille, most recently BMW provoked with a monster SUV.

So now Citroën too.

The French carmaker is accused of playing down or even supporting sexual harassment of women with a controversial commercial.

The advertisement has been circulating on the country's social networks since the beginning of December and shows the singer Amr Diab, who is popular in the Arab world, sitting in a Citroën.

A short sequence shows how he uses a camera installed on the rearview mirror to take a photo of a woman crossing the street in front of him - without her knowledge or consent.

The 60-year-old then smiles when the picture appears on his smartphone.

Citroën apologizes publicly

Citroën received harsh criticism on social media.

In Egypt, 90 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 39 report having experienced harassment.

It is "scary" to take a photo of a woman without her consent, wrote women's rights activist Reel Abdellatif on Twitter.

"They encourage sexual harassment," she added, turning to Citroën.

Another user wondered how seriously anyone could have been of the opinion that such an advertisement was a good idea.

Internet users also criticized the pop singer Amr Diab.

One user tweeted that he was seen as an idol and knew very well that Egyptians were in permanent danger.

"It's shocking that he didn't see the problem."

Citroën finally said on Thursday that the company had been informed that a scene from the commercial was "perceived as inappropriate".

The company withdrew the corresponding version - and announced: "We apologize to everyone who feels offended."

In the further course of the commercial you could see how the two get to know and approach each other after the secretly taken photo during a joyride.

Hard to believe that such an action would end like this in real life.

apr / AFP

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2021-12-30

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