B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Cannes Lions
  • State of Origin
  • WPP
  • NRL
  • AFL
  • B&T Women in Media
  • Pinterest
  • Thinkerbell
  • imaa
  • Anthony Albanese
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Meta
  • EssenceMediaCom
  • Foxtel
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: “Wrong And Tasteless!” Volkswagen Forced To Pull Highly “Racist” Ad For Its New Golf
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Campaigns > “Wrong And Tasteless!” Volkswagen Forced To Pull Highly “Racist” Ad For Its New Golf
Campaigns

“Wrong And Tasteless!” Volkswagen Forced To Pull Highly “Racist” Ad For Its New Golf

Staff Writers
Published on: 21st May 2020 at 9:36 AM
Staff Writers
Share
2 Min Read
SHARE

German car giant Volkswagen has been forced to pull a social media campaign that showed a giant white hand pushing around a black person after it was called out as racist.

The 10-second clip appeared on VW’s Instagram page on Tuesday to advertise its latest Golf vehicle. It has since been removed but was still circulating on Twitter on Wednesday.

The spot shows an oversized white woman’s hand picking up a black man and moving him around before flicking him into a building and away from the yellow Golf car parked nearby.

The problem was that when tagline “Der neue Golf” (or The new Golf) faded in such a way it appeared to spell out the N-word in German.

Other social media users also took offence at the sign above the building the man disappears into, which reads “Petit Colon”, was interpreted as a reference to colonialism.

Check out the spot for yourself below:

Volkswagen schaltet auf Insta rassistische Werbung und ich frage mich wie man innerhalb von 10 Sekunden einfach ALLES falsch machen kann.

Das die ersten eingeblendeten Buchstaben das N-Wort ergeben, setzt dem ganzen noch die Krone auf. pic.twitter.com/QR8uIfSH43

— Bild ist doof! (@Friesiii) May 19, 2020

The ad was quickly called out on social media. “No one here got the wrong impression,” said one Instagram commenter. “This is bad and racist communication.”

“The people who made this knew exactly what they were doing,” another tweeted.

For its part, Volkswagen immediately pulled the ad and offered a half-hearted apology insisting that the “origin of the people depicted is irrelevant” and that the company opposed “all forms of racism, xenophobia and discrimination”.

The media statement added: “As you can imagine, we are surprised and shocked that our Instagram story could be so misunderstood.”

 

 

 

 

 

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: Ad campaigns, Volkswagen
Share
Staff Writers
By Staff Writers
Follow:
Staff Writers represent B&T's team of award-winning reporters. Here, you'll find articles crafted with industry experience spanning over 50 years. Our team of specialists brings together a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to delivering insightful, topical, and breaking news. With a deep understanding of advertising and media, our Staff Writers are dedicated to providing industry-leading analysis and reporting, both shaping the conversation and setting the benchmark for excellence.

Latest News

Cindy Rose Appointed WPP CEO
10/07/2025
Dame Lisa Carrington.
Zespri Teams Up With World Champion Kayaker Dame Lisa Carrington In Global Partnership
10/07/2025
Agency Scorecard: EssenceMediacom
10/07/2025
Agency Scorecard: It’s Friday
10/07/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?