Porsche apologizes after viewers notice it erased a historic Christian landmark from its new ad

Porsche elicited outrage over the weekend after keen observers recognized the company had edited a historic Christian landmark out of its new advertisement. Although the German company has issued an apology and taken down the video, questions persist about the motivations behind the company's virtual iconoclasm.

The German company, owned by the Volkswagen Group, recently put out a video celebrating 60 "very fast years" of its signature two-door sports cars, the latest of which goes for over $290,000.

In the original iconoclastic version of the video — which has been rendered private on YouTube by the company but saved by one Twitter user — the car whizzes through the decades, years, and various locales, interrupted by the captions, "No matter how fast you move forward ... never forget where you come from."

Despite this plea to remember the past, viewers noticed that the company saw fit to erase one key piece of history from memory.

As the 911 speeds past the 25th Abril Bridge, which connects the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon to the municipality Almada, a pedestal can be seen in the background without its historic statue.

That 269-foot base has been holding up the iconic Cristo Rei ("Christ the King") statue since before the first Porsche 911 took to European asphalt.

After World War II — and the conclusion of Porsche's days manufacturing war machines for the Nazi Reich, likely with forced labor — Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon Don Manuel Gonçalves Cerejeira ordered this monument be made, taking inspiration from the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The statue of Jesus Christ was intended as thanks to God for sparing Portugal from the ravages of the war, according to Lonely Planet.

Portugal.net indicated that the 92-foot statue and its 269-foot base were approved by Portuguese bishops in 1937. Construction began in 1946, and the monument was officially inaugurated in 1959.

It appears the marketing team at Porsche figured 2023 was an ideal time to virtually raze it.

The erasure of the Christian symbol from the European car company's promotional footage has triggered fury online.

The Twitter account Wall Street Silver asked, "Why would they do that?"

Ricardo Regalla Dias Pinto, chief of staff for the right-wing Portuguese politician André Ventura, tweeted, "For me, @Porsche is not an option anymore!"

Jack Posobiec, senior editor at Human Events, wrote, "They aren't hiding it anymore. They won't stop until Christ is erased from the world."

A Gays Against Groomers ambassador from Portugal wrote, "As a proud Lisboeta and a Christian, this is disgusting to me. If you don't like my country's culture, don't f***ing film there @Porsche."

Polish lawyer and politician Kacper Płażyński tweeted, "'Progressive Free World.' Well, @Porsche made a fortune from World War II and the supply of engines for German (slave-built) tanks. Hitler wanted to destroy Christianity. @Porsche sticks to his Nazi roots."

Płażyński appears to have been referencing how Adolf Hitler vowed by 1942 to "root out and destroy the influence of Christian Churches," deeming them "the evil that is gnawing our vitals," as reported by the Washington Post.

Hitler reportedly told the German politician Hermann Rauschning that he intended "to stamp out Christianity root and branch" and stated elsewhere, "We will wash off the Christian veneer and bring out a religion peculiar to our race."

Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn noted in "Leftism" that the Nazis planned "for a total crushing of Christianity to be carried out after a victory which, fortunately, never came," stating on Feb. 2, 1942, that he would exterminate Christianity, referring to the religion as a "cultural scandal."

Concerning Porsche's latest scandal, a spokesman for the company told the Daily Mail, "In a previously uploaded version of the 911 S/T launch film, a landmark was removed. This was a mistake, and we apologise for any offence caused. The original film is online now."

The company told Fox Business in another statement, "In an early version of a film created in Europe, the Cristo Rei Statue does not appear. We are truly sorry and can fully understand the hurt this has caused. This film has been removed."

The Daily Mail indicated that this is hardly unprecedented.

For instance, in 2017, the German international retail chain Lidl, which has stores in the U.S., erased Christian symbols from packaging to remain "religiously neutral."

While woke corporations apparently seek to stealthily erase Christian culture, Western leftists have taken a less subtle approach in the streets.

Radicals tore down a downtown Los Angeles statue of Fr. Junípero Serra — recognized by Catholics as a saint — in 2020.

Another Serra statue was toppled in San Francisco the same year, along with several more religious statues of Christ and Mary.

BLM activist Shaun King called for the destruction of all statues depicting Jesus as white.

Many such statues have been destroyed amid a spate of North American church burnings.

Watch the original video here:

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