<p>Volkswagen has apologised for and pulled a social media ad for a new car after an outcry over its racist overtones.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The ten-second spot posted on Instagram and Twitter shows a massive white hand pushing a black man away from a new yellow Volkswagen Golf 8 parked on the street, before flicking him into a restaurant called Petit Colon, which translates from French as the Little Colonist or Little Settler.</p>

<p>Volkswagen apologised in a statement and said that, given its own history, "it does not tolerate any form of racism, xenophobia or discrimination."</p>

<p>"We posted a racist advertising video on Volkswagen's Instagram channel. We understand the public outrage at this. Because we're horrified, too," the VW brand's head of sales and marketing Jürgen Stackmann and group head of diversity Elke Heitmüller said in an apology posted on social media.</p>

<p>"On behalf of Volkswagen AG, we apologise to the public at large for this film. And we apologize in particular to those who feel personally hurt by the racist content because of their own history."</p>

<p>The company is now the world's biggest automaker, delivering nearly 11 million vehicles in 2019. The group makes cars under the VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche brands.</p>

<p>Stackmann and Heitmüller added, "We're ashamed of it and cannot explain how it came about. All the more reason for us to make sure we clear this up. And we will make the results and consequences of the investigation public."<br />
&nbsp;</p>


Volkswagen has apologised for and pulled a social media ad for a new car 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 a new yellow Volkswagen Golf 8 parked on the street, before flicking him into a restaurant called Petit Colon, which translates from French as the Little Colonist or Little Settler.

Volkswagen has apologised for and pulled a social media ad for a new car 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 a new yellow Volkswagen Golf 8 parked on the street, before flicking him into a restaurant called Petit Colon, which translates from French as the Little Colonist or Little Settler. Volkswagen apologised in a statement and said that, given its own history, "it does not tolerate any form of racism, xenophobia or discrimination." "We posted a racist advertising video on Volkswagen's Instagram channel. We understand the public outrage at this. Because we're horrified, too," the VW brand's head of sales and marketing Jürgen Stackmann and group head of diversity Elke Heitmüller said in an apology posted on social media. "On behalf of Volkswagen AG, we apologise to the public at large for this film. And we apologize in particular to those who feel personally hurt by the racist content because of their own history." The company is now the world's biggest automaker, delivering nearly 11 million vehicles in 2019. The group makes cars under the VW, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Porsche brands. Stackmann and Heitmüller added, "We're ashamed of it and cannot explain how it came about. All the more reason for us to make sure we clear this up. And we will make the results and consequences of the investigation public."

Volkswagen apologises for car ad with racist overtones

<p>A black model who appeared in a Dove advert denounced as racist by many social media users has defended the clip, saying that far from belittling black women it celebrated ethnic diversity.</p>

<p>Lola Ogunyemi was at the&nbsp;centre of an international furore over a 3-second video posted on Dove&#39;s US&nbsp;Facebook page which showed her removing her t-shirt to reveal a white woman, who then took hers off to reveal an Asian woman.</p>

<p>&quot;I don&#39;t feel it was racist,&quot; she said in an interview with the BBC on Wednesday.</p>

<p>Many Facebook and Twitter users said the clip signalled that white people were cleaner or more beautiful than black people and likened it to 19th-century soap adverts that showed black people scrubbing themselves to become white.</p>

<p>But Ogunyemi said the stills from the clip that shot around the internet over the weekend - which mostly showed only her and the white woman, leaving out the Asian woman - gave the wrong impression.</p>

<p>She said there was a 30-second, made-for-TV version that had other images and a slogan that made it much clearer that the intention was to say that all women deserved quality products.</p>

<p>&quot;The screenshots that have taken the media by storm paint a slightly different picture,&quot; she said.</p>

<p>Dove apologised for the Facebook clip, saying it had &quot;missed the mark in representing women of colour thoughtfully&quot;. &nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">An image we recently posted on Facebook missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully. We deeply regret the offense it caused.</p>
&mdash; Dove (@Dove) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dove/status/916731793927278592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="und"><a href="https://t.co/3wCK97h2x9">pic.twitter.com/3wCK97h2x9</a></p>
&mdash; Dove (@Dove) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dove/status/917444642047778816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Ogunyemi, who is Nigerian, born in Britain and raised in the United States, said in an article in the Guardian that she had &quot;grown up very aware of society`s opinion that dark-skinned people, especially women, would look better if our skin were lighter&quot;.</p>

<p>Far from fitting into this narrative, she wrote, her participation in the Dove advert was a chance to &quot;represent my dark-skinned sisters in a global beauty brand&quot;.</p>

<p>She said Dove could have defended itself by better explaining the concept behind the clip.</p>

<p>However, she also said that Dove should have spotted the risk that the sequence of images could be interpreted as racist given that it had run into trouble over similar content in the past.</p>

<p>&quot;They should have strong teams there that can point this kind of thing out before it goes to air,&quot; she told the BBC.</p>

<p>Dove, a Unilever brand, was criticised in 2011 over an ad which showed three women side by side in front of a before-and-after image of cracked and smooth skin, with a black woman on the &quot;before&quot; side and a white woman on the &quot;after&quot; side.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">You have done it in the past.?? <a href="https://t.co/qaGG10bePw">pic.twitter.com/qaGG10bePw</a></p>
&mdash; Nonhlanhla Mabhena (@N0n0zA) <a href="https://twitter.com/N0n0zA/status/916735085096861696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Another point of contention was a label on a Dove product that said it was for &quot;normal to dark skin&quot;.</p>


The ad was widely criticised for airing a racist campaign

A black model who appeared in a Dove advert denounced as racist by many social media users has defended the clip, saying that far from belittling black women it celebrated ethnic diversity. Lola Ogunyemi was at the centre of an international furore over a 3-second video posted on Dove's US Facebook page which showed her removing her t-shirt to reveal a white woman, who then took hers off to reveal an Asian woman. "I don't feel it was racist," she said in an interview with the BBC on Wednesday. Many Facebook and Twitter users said the clip signalled that white people were cleaner or more beautiful than black people and likened it to 19th-century soap adverts that showed black people scrubbing themselves to become white. But Ogunyemi said the stills from the clip that shot around the internet over the weekend - which mostly showed only her and the white woman, leaving out the Asian woman - gave the wrong impression. She said there was a 30-second, made-for-TV version that had other images and a slogan that made it much clearer that the intention was to say that all women deserved quality products. "The screenshots that have taken the media by storm paint a slightly different picture," she said. Dove apologised for the Facebook clip, saying it had "missed the mark in representing women of colour thoughtfully". An image we recently posted on Facebook missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully. We deeply regret the offense it caused. — Dove (@Dove) October 7, 2017 × pic.twitter.com/3wCK97h2x9 — Dove (@Dove) October 9, 2017 × Ogunyemi, who is Nigerian, born in Britain and raised in the United States, said in an article in the Guardian that she had "grown up very aware of society`s opinion that dark-skinned people, especially women, would look better if our skin were lighter". Far from fitting into this narrative, she wrote, her participation in the Dove advert was a chance to "represent my dark-skinned sisters in a global beauty brand". She said Dove could have defended itself by better explaining the concept behind the clip. However, she also said that Dove should have spotted the risk that the sequence of images could be interpreted as racist given that it had run into trouble over similar content in the past. "They should have strong teams there that can point this kind of thing out before it goes to air," she told the BBC. Dove, a Unilever brand, was criticised in 2011 over an ad which showed three women side by side in front of a before-and-after image of cracked and smooth skin, with a black woman on the "before" side and a white woman on the "after" side. You have done it in the past.?? pic.twitter.com/qaGG10bePw — Nonhlanhla Mabhena (@N0n0zA) October 7, 2017 × Another point of contention was a label on a Dove product that said it was for "normal to dark skin".

Dove ad was not racist, says Lola Ogunyemi

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