Saturn apologizes to Jamaica, withdraws commercial Image

by Biko Kennedy / Feb 26, 2013 02:03 pm

In a letter to Joy Wheeler, Ambassador of Jamaica at Berlin, Saturn indicated that "at no time was it the company's intention to offend the national sentiment of the Jamaican people".

"We must nevertheless take note of the fact that the humorous approach we selected has led to some misunderstandings in Jamaica and among Jamaicans living in Germany. We sincerely regret this and would like to apologize if we have angered or offended anyone with our ad," explains the German Electronics firm Saturn.

Over the weekend (February 22-24), an outcry of disgruntled Jamaicans swept social mediums with JLP spokesperson on Culture, Olivia "Babsy" Grange urging Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller to address the matter.

Some persons found it highly offensive noting that the "Germans are not idiots, they know exactly what they are doing," while others look at it from a more diplomatic point-of-view saying it was a "good production [but] very insensitive choice of imagery."

The "tongue-in-cheek" production truly showed how something so small and innocent can result in a rippled effect of misunderstood circumstances, as demonstrated in the clip.

The letter further outlined that it wasn't an intention of theirs to "offend the sensibilities of a segment of the population or nation or diminish the significance of the Jamaican flag."

Apology accepted?

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