Volkswagen Tries To Explain How That Racist Ad Made It Though The System

The racist ad appeared on social media last month, and showed a giant white hand manipulating a black man like a marionette. Volkswagen eventually pulled the ad and launched an internal investigation. The company released the results of that investigation today, which are illuminating but perhaps in not all the ways VW intended.

Usually in situations like this, I’m inclined to believe a broader marketing conspiracy is at play but the bluntness of the ad, Volkswagen’s subsequent response, and Volkswagen’s, uh, history
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mre30 - 6/12/2020 11:09:14 AM

+1 Boost

This whole situation totally seems like a few marketing staffers hated their boss (who was obviously incompetent as s/he would likely have had to have looked at the video clip before it went out) and they put this out (snuck it out is more like it) to embarass their a**hole boss.

Kind of like 'revenge porn' for a bad boss!

The clip is distasteful (but comes across as somewhate whimsical in a perverted sense) and some creative thought went into it, which leads me to believe that some creative types put it together, colluded to get it thru the channels, and snuck it out where it sat like an unexploded bomb until somebody gave it wider distribution. There is also evidence of a classic, "German Sense of Humor" (i.e. politically incorrect, cutting, humor) aimed at the fall guy/gal higher up the ranks in VW.

Yeah, nobody got fired either, although I'm sure at least one or two people got demoted!

In other marketing news, (from quartz.com) regarding their corporate slogan...

" Volkswagen would surely love a fresh start in 2016 after this year was defined by a massive emissions-cheating scandal. And one way it’s hoping to wipe the slate clean is with a new advertising slogan—kind of. The German company is shedding its tagline “Das Auto”—meaning “The Car”—for an even simpler one (if that’s possible): “Volkswagen.” (The 'Peoples Car')

The old slogan, Das Auto which has accompanied the Volkswagen logo on global ads since 2007, is being shelved in favor of the automaker’s own name to highlight the company’s “newfound humility,” Reuters reported. “Das Auto,” the unnamed manager told Reuters, was pretentious—it suggested that Volkswagen alone defined the modern car. With recalls looming and costs mounting due to the defeat device that affected 11 million vehicles around the world, the slogan made less and less sense. The new tagline then, to be rolled out in stages around the world, seems like an attempt to step back, take a beat, and redefine the Volkswagen name—stripping away those negative connotations."

I would chalk this up to corporate sabotage/getting even with the boss.

trboaccord - 6/12/2020 11:58:17 AM

0 Boost

The fact that it is deemed racist is pathetic... VW is the Republican party of the car world everyone is out to get them and will stop at nothing to ruin them

MDarringer - 6/12/2020 3:32:38 PM

0 Boost

VW deserves to die. They are an immoral company.

carloslassiter - 6/13/2020 2:37:09 PM

-1 Boost

The fact that it is deemed racist is pathetic... VW is the Republican party of the car world everyone is out to get them and will stop at nothing to ruin them
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Did you watch the ad?
Did you read the words as they came on screen at the end?

jackpuls - 6/14/2020 10:43:57 PM

0 Boost

Please remove the idiot that is MDarringer...

MDarringer - 6/14/2020 11:15:46 PM

+1 Boost

Ahh. I see you're a Democrat given your intolerance of the freedom of speech. By the way, how many sub accounts are you running?