Porsche was criticized today for claiming to have airbrushed the famous Cristo Rei monument in Lisbon in a video celebrating 60 years of the iconic 911 sports car.
The controversial video, which features Porsche luxury cars driving along the mountains of Portugal, has been removed from the automaker’s YouTube channel but remains on its website.
In the promotional clip, a father leaves his house and hands his son a toy version of the Porsche in which he then drives off. He is then filmed driving along the beautiful Serra da Arrábida coast before being passed by a woman who cranks up the volume. in his own Porsche.
The woman’s red Porsche then zooms past Libson’s April 25th Bridge, from where you can usually see the iconic Cristo Rei (Christ the King) statue overlooking the capital.
But the statue – which was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – was removed as Porsche chose to show the 75ft concrete plinth on which the monument stands. Porsche declined to comment.
This follows other controversies around religion ‘airbrushing’ organizations, including universities criticized for dropping Christian term names and telling students not to say ‘Christian name’ or ‘surname’ because the terms are “offensive”.
In the video, the statue of Jesus Christ with his arms outstretched appears to have been removed
The statue of Jesus can be seen in the background of this photo of the 25 de Abril bridge in Lisbon
Porsche has released the promotional video which showcases the new 9/11 S/T model (pictured) which costs £231,600
The giant statue dates back to the 1950s and was erected to express gratitude because the Portuguese survived the horrors of World War II.
The promotional video features the new Porsche 9/11 S/T model which costs £231,600 and can reach 186mph, although only 1,963 models were produced. The 911 model has been the identity of the Porsche brand since 1963.
But the video sparked fury online, with some calling for a boycott of the ‘woke’ society, while others questioned why they filmed the clip from this angle if they were just going to edit the statue.
One user, who reposted the video to Twitter, now called X, said: ‘Hey @Porsche why did you delete the statue of Jesus Christ from your video filmed in Lisbon?
The tweet was seen by more than two million people, while thousands of comments calling Porsche poured in.
One user tweeted: ‘Wow and this is a beautiful statue to see in person. I have driven over this bridge and it is truly amazing. I’m crossing Porsche off my future shopping list. They should be ashamed!
Another said: ‘It’s awful. Why would it be removed?
A third added: “Because Porsche is awake”. And a fourth said: ‘It’s just ridiculous to remove an iconic statue from an advertisement.
Wondering why Porsche chose to use this shot, another said: “They didn’t have to film this location/angle at all, so many alternate locations that wouldn’t have taken anything away from the ad.”
A close view of the iconic Cristo Rei statue that overlooks Lisbon. It depicts Jesus standing with outstretched arms, blessing the city
Porsche’s video has sparked fury online, with some calling for a boycott of the ‘woke’ company
“Still, they decided to include the statue/base so they could erase the most important part of it.”
The giant statue dates back to the 1950s and was erected to express gratitude because the Portuguese survived the horrors of World War II when the country was officially neutral.
It depicts Christ with his arms raised, blessing the town of Libson. Visitors can enjoy breathtaking views of the capital from the 75m high observation deck.
The Porsche stunt comes after other institutions have come under fire for Christian-related incidents.
In 2017 budget supermarket Lidl faced backlash after removing Christian symbols from packaging to remain “religiously neutral”. The channel has released a range of Greek dishes with photos of the famous Anastasis Church in Santorini, Greece.
But some customers noticed that the packaging lacked the Christian crosses that usually adorn the top of the church dome.
More recently this year, the London School of Economics has been accused of being ‘shamed’ of British history and culture after it dropped its Christian term names.
In the Porsche video, a father hands his son a scale model of the Porsche before getting into the real car
He then drives off and is passed by a woman in a red Porsche driving past Lisbon’s famous bridge – with no sign of the Jesus statue in the background
Porsche celebrates 60 years of the 911 model but its promotional video has sparked a backlash
The institution, which is popular with international students, says it has changed its name to “better reflect the international nature of our community”.
From next year, Saint-Michel will become the “autumn term”, the Christmas holidays will be the “winter holidays”, while the term of Lent will be the “winter term” and, Echoing American universities, the Easter holidays will be the “spring breaks”. .
Toby Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, told MailOnline at the time that the move was “another example” of a UK university being “ashamed of its ties to the culture and history of Great Britain”. -Brittany”.
Swansea University has also renamed its Michaelmas and Lent terms in favor of secular alternatives.
Tory MP David Jones, the former secretary of state for Wales, has accused the Welsh university of “airbrushing” Christian heritage. He told the Telegraph in April: ‘I think it’s quite depressing that universities don’t have more regard for the Christian faith in this country.
“There seems to be this secularization which is at the same time sensitive to religions other than Christianity. I can’t imagine that many other religions would be very happy if they had to be kept out of university life and I don’t think Christians should put up with it either.
It comes six years after the National Trust was also accused of ‘airbrushing faith’ after it banned the word ‘Easter’ from its annual egg hunt.
It also emerged earlier this year that the University of Kent had discouraged the use of the term ‘Christian name’, saying it was offensive to non-Christians.
The University of Kent has told students to stop using the term as it claims it only applies to Christians, instead suggesting students say “first name” or “given name”.
The university also objected to the use of the word “surname” because it derives from “father’s name” and is therefore deemed patriarchal.
The University of Brighton has also advised staff not to say ‘Christmas’ and instead call it the ‘winter closed period’.
In 2017 budget supermarket Lidl faced backlash after removing Christian symbols from packaging to remain “religiously neutral”. The channel has released a range of Greek dishes with photos of the famous Anastasis Church in Santorini, Greece. But some customers noticed that the packaging lacked the Christian crosses that usually adorn the top of the church dome.
According to a nine-page guide to “inclusive language” published late last year, Christmas is too “Christian”.
Staff have also been advised not to ask students “what is your first name?” but rather say “what is your first name?” or ‘what is your first name?’
More and more companies are getting lambasted for their modern day woke advertising, including Costa Coffee last week.
The UK’s biggest cafe chain has been accused of glamourising ‘complex and dangerous surgery’ by covering a van in a cartoon image featuring mastectomy scars.
Costa has defended its use of the image to promote ‘inclusivity and diversity’ but has been called ‘rude and irresponsible’ and ‘absolutely bonkers’ – and calls have been made to boycott the company on the social networks.
In May, Adidas faced backlash over the use of a biologically male model to promote a women’s swimsuit in its “Pride 2023” collection.
The sportswear giant has been furious with fans who have accused it of making fun of women when it unveiled an advert for the £50 swimsuit which is part of its campaign to ‘support inclusive values’ .
An angry fan said the backlash was Adidas’ ‘Bud Light moment’, echoing the debacle the American beer brand faced after launching an ad campaign featuring a transgender social media influencer .
Sales of the beer plummeted following the backlash and its parent company Anheuser-Busch saw £2.4bn ($3bn) wiped from its market capitalization value after its paid partnership with Dylan was revealed. Mulvaney in early April.
