German car maker Audi received flak for its latest advertisement of the new RS 4. The now deleted commercial shows a little girl leaning on the grill of the red car, wearing a dress, some shades and eating a banana.
“Lets your heart beat faster – in every aspect,” read the caption.
The vehicle was originally being marketed as a family car with an emergency braking system that can reduce pedestrian accidents. However, Twitter critics called out the company for its inappropriate approach.
One user wrote, “Why a banana. So much time and money would have been spent on every aspect of this ad, age ethnicity clothes etc of girl. There was probably a whole team set to choose the fruit. I don't know how disconnected you have to be not to realise that sucking on a banana is contentious.”
“AHH come on. The banana, pose, red colour are incredibly suggestive,” before adding: “I have studied Freud, Mulvey, this reeks of the male gaze,” added another.
Audi went on to apologise for the advert. The company wrote on Twitter, “We hear you and let’s get this straight: We care for children. The Audi RS 4 is a family car with more than thirty driver assistance systems including an emergency break system. That’s why we showcased it with various family members for the campaign.
"We hoped we could convey these messages, showing that even for the weakest traffic participants it is possible to relaxingly lean on the RS technology. That was a mistake! Audi never intended to hurt anyone’s feelings.”
“We sincerely apologize for this insensitive image and ensure that it will not be used in future. We will also immediately examine internally, how this campaign has been created and if control mechanisms failed in this case,” added Audi.
No sooner than the car manufacturer had extended its apology, many Twitter users came out in support of the company stating that there was nothing wrong with the advertisement, but the minds of those who thought it was inappropriate.
One user wrote, “Audi dropped this ad because some people said the girl eating a banana is "provocative". If you think a girl eating a banana is provocative, you need to be thrown in prison immediately.”
“I genuinely see absolutely no problem with this. I’m a huge advocate against the sexual exploitation of kids, and apparently that’s what’s happening here? I don’t see it. There’s a picture of two of me as a kid leaning against my parents cars, it’s not sexual at all,” added another.
