Germany's Volkswagen has pulled a social media ad for a new car and apologized after an outcry over its racist overtones.
The ten-second spot posted on Instagram and Twitter shows a massive white hand pushing a black man away from beside a new yellow Volkswagen Golf parked on the street, then moving him to an open doorway and flicking him inside a French cafe.
Commentators on social media also noted that as the German-language slogan "Der Neue Golf" – "The New Golf" – fades into view, the jumble of letters can be read as a racial slur for a brief moment.
And the cafe's name is Petit Colon, which in French literally means the "Little Colonist."
Volkswagen told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the video had been pulled and that "we can understand the outrage and anger."
"Without question: the video is inappropriate and tasteless," Volkswagen wrote. "We will clarify how something like this could happen, and there will be consequences."
The Wolfsburg-based automaker, founded under the Nazis to produce "the people's car," said that given its history it has always sought to "position itself against all forms of racism, xenophobia and discrimination."
"Many initiatives in the company and in our global workforce promote diversity, integration and unprejudiced cooperation," Volkswagen said. "That makes it all the more annoying that we made this mistake."
Avid completes acquisition of Wolftech
Avid®, known for software solutions for professional media production, has completed the acquisition of Wolftech Broadcast Solutions, a leader in cloud-based multiplatform news planning, production and publishing solutions.
The acquisition enables Avid to combine its digital-first, end-to-end media solution with Wolftech’s expertise in story-centric workflow management. News organizations will be able to increase efficiency and accelerate story delivery through enhanced remote collaboration and multiplatform amplification.
Avid CEO Wellford Dillard stated, “Wolftech is unquestionably on the leading edge of where the industry is going, and this acquisition demonstrates Avid’s commitment to transform news, sports, and live production workflows. We are delighted to welcome Wolftech into the Avid family.”
Wolftech CEO Arne Berven added, “We were focused on finding a partner that could accelerate the adoption of our platform globally. We explored a number of possibilities, but when we talked to Avid, we knew it was the right match.”
The closing of the acquisition follows Avid’s announcement on October 7 that the company had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Wolftech.
With this acquisition, Avid deepens the integration between the two toolsets while continuing to embrace an open approach in partnering with a wide range of media production tools and newsroom systems. Existing Wolftech customers will benefit from Avid’s global scale for customer support and professional services.
Ian Axton, head of production operations for ITV News, said, “As a customer of both Avid and Wolftech we’re excited about the benefits this acquisition will bring to our users and our business. Wolftech has transformed... Read More