Despite its impressive size, viewers couldn’t see an enormous statue of Jesus in the original version of a newly released Porsche ad — because the famous sculpture was digitally erased.
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The luxury car brand has faced an onslaught of criticism over a commercial commemorating the 60th anniversary of its Porsche 911 sports car depicted in a two-and-a-half-minute ad filmed in Lisbon, Portugal, home of the Santuário de Cristo Rei, or the Sanctuary of Christ the King, overlooking the Tagus River.
Standing 92 feet tall atop a 269-foot concrete pedestal, the statue of Jesus with outstretched arms would certainly be hard to miss — had it been included. The edit was spotted by an X user.
Hey, @Porsche , why did you erase the statue of Jesus Christ from your video filmed in Lisbon? pic.twitter.com/VxcfUBrN8D
— Alex B. (@maisumcarneiro) August 5, 2023
In a statement to CBN’s Faithwire, a representative for Porsche apologized, stating the film was created by Porsche AG in Germany. The statement indicated an “early version” of the ad did not feature the Jesus statue and expressed remorse on the part of the company for the highly criticized edit.
“We are truly sorry and can fully understand the hurt this has caused,” the statement from Porsche read. “This film has been removed.”
The representative did not offer any explanation as to why the earlier version of the commercial was edited to remove the Christian statue.
By Sunday afternoon, the German brand had uploaded a new version of the commercial to its YouTube channel. The latest edition includes the statue of Jesus, rather than just an empty pedestal, as was seen in the initial version of the ad.
You can watch the new version below:
This story has been updated to include a statement from Porsche.
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