Volkswagen Group (XETRA:VOW), the German car giant, is facing criticism over its Super Bowl 2024 advert after it was accused by viewers of glossing over its Nazi history.
‘An American Love Story’, the car maker’s latest ad campaign, retells its 75-year history in the US.
It was shown at this year’s Super Bowl, which was one of the most-watched broadcasts in US history, with advertisers paying a reported US$7 million for a 30 second slot.
However, viewers were quick to note that it fails to recount anything from the years between its inception in 1937 and its arrival in the States in 1949.
The advert starts with a VW Beetle arriving at a New York shipyard in the 40s before a montage highlights the various models which followed, against the background of the ever-shifting US culture.
Volkswagen was founded, twelve years before it entered the US, in Germany under the Nazi regime and was marketed as an affordable car for ordinary citizens.
Once the war broke out, the car giant began producing vehicles for the army and used slave labourers who had been imprisoned at concentration camps to build them.
Following the war, VW continued to produce under British occupation, changing the name of its Type 1 model to the Beetle, before it went on to become the best-selling car of the 70s.
“Watching VW try and pretend their cars weren’t originally designed as family vehicles for Hitler’s vision for the German family, all the while playing Neil Diamond, who is Jewish, is the most surreal thing I’ve seen in years,” a user said on Twitter/X.
“Volkswagen wants to make sure you know their history starts in 1949 and not a SINGLE YEAR EARLIER nothing to see here definitely nothing notable for VW before 1949,” another user added.
However, not all were critical, with one user tweeting: “Great commercial from #VW #SuperBowl”.