Anger as Porsche ‘airbrushes’ statue of Jesus in new 911 promo ad

Porsche has come under fire today over claims it spray-painted Lisbon’s famous Cristo Rei landmark in a video celebrating 60 years of the iconic 911 sports car.

The controversial video, which shows luxury Porsche cars driving through the mountains in Portugal, has been removed from the manufacturer’s YouTube channel, but remains on their website.

In the promotional video, a father leaves his house and gives his son a toy version of the Porsche that he drives off with. He is then filmed driving along the beautiful coastline of Serra da Arrábida before being overtaken by a woman turning up the volume in her own Porsche.

The woman’s red Porsche then speeds past Libson’s 25 de Abril Bridge – from where you can usually see the iconic statue of Cristo Rei (Christ the King) overlooking the capital.

But the statue – which was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro – has been omitted, with Porsche opting to show only the 23-foot concrete plinth on which the monument stands. Porsche declined to comment.

It follows other controversies surrounding organizations that “airbrush” religion, including universities that have come under fire for dropping Christian term names and telling students not to say “baptismal name” or “surname” because the terms are “offensive.”

The statue of Jesus can be seen in the background of this photo of Lisbon’s 25 de Abril Bridge

Porsche has released the promotional video featuring the new 9/11 S/T model (pictured) costing £231,600

Dating back to the 1950s, the giant statue was erected to express gratitude for the Portuguese surviving the horrors of World War II

The promotional video shows the new Porsche 9/11 S/T model costing £231,600 and capable of 300km/h, although only 1,963 models were produced. The model 911 has been the identity of the Porsche brand since 1963.

But the video has sparked outrage online, with some calling for a boycott of the “woke” company, while others questioned why they filmed the clip from that angle if all they wanted to do was edit the image.

A user, who reposted the video on Twitter, now called X, said, “Hey, @Porsche, why did you erase the statue of Jesus Christ from your video that was filmed in Lisbon?”

The tweet has been viewed by more than two million people and thousands of comments calling out Porsche poured in.

One user tweeted, “Wow and that is a beautiful image to see in real life. I rode on that bridge and it’s really amazing. I’m taking Porsche off my list of future purchases. They should be ashamed!’

Another said, “That’s terrible. Why would it be removed?’

A third added: “Because Porsche is awake.” And a fourth said, “That’s just ridiculous, to take an iconic image out of a commercial.”

Another questioned why Porsche had chosen to use that shot, saying, “They didn’t need to film this location/angle at all, so many alternate locations that wouldn’t have taken anything away from the ad.”

A close-up of the iconic Cristo Rei statue overlooking Lisbon. It depicts Jesus blessing the city with outstretched arms

The Porsche video has sparked outrage online, with some calling for a boycott of the “awake” company

“Still, they decided to put the statue/pedestal in there so they could erase the most important part of it.”

Dating back to the 1950s, the giant statue was erected to express gratitude for the Portuguese surviving the horrors of World War II when the country was officially neutral.

It depicts Christ with arms upraised, blessing the city of Libson. Visitors can enjoy breathtaking views of the capital from the 75-meter-high viewing platform.

Porsche’s stunt comes in the wake of other institutions under fire for Christian incidents.

In 2017, budget supermarket Lidl faced a backlash after removing Christian symbols from its packaging to remain ‘religiously neutral’. The chain released an assortment of Greek food with photos of the famous Anastasis Church in Santorini, Greece.

But some customers noticed that the packaging did not contain the Christian crosses that usually adorn the top of the church dome.

More recently, this year, the London School of Economics was accused of being ‘ashamed’ of Britain’s history and culture after dropping its Christian term names.

In the Porsche video, a father gives his son a toy model of the Porsche before getting into the real car

He then drives off and is overtaken by a woman in a red Porsche speeding past the famous bridge in Lisbon – with no sign of the Jesus statue in the background

Porsche celebrates 60th anniversary of 911 model, but promotional video has sparked backlash

The institution, which is popular with foreign students, says it has changed names to “better reflect the international nature of our community.”

Starting next year, Michaelmas will become “fall term,” Christmas vacation will become “winter vacation,” Lent will become “winter vacation,” and, following the example of universities in the United States, Easter vacation will become “spring vacation.”

Toby Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, told MailOnline at the time that the move was “another example” of a British university being “ashamed of its links to Britain’s culture and history.”

Swansea University has also renamed the terms Michaelmas and Lent in favor of secular alternatives.

Conservative MP David Jones, former Secretary of State for Wales, accused the University of Wales of ‘airbrushing’ Christian heritage. He told The Telegraph in April: ‘I find it quite depressing that universities in this country no longer take the Christian faith into account.

‘There seems to be a secularization that is at the same time sensitive to beliefs other than Christianity. I can’t imagine many other religions would be very happy if they were brushed out of university life and I don’t think Christians should put up with that 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.

Earlier this year it also emerged that the University of Kent had discouraged the use of the term ‘baptismal name’, claiming it would be offensive to non-Christians.

The University of Kent has instructed students to stop using the term as it claims it only applies to Christians, but suggests that students say ‘first name’ or ‘given name’.

The university also opposed the use of the word “surname” because it derives from “sire-name” and is therefore considered patriarchal.

The University of Brighton has also advised staff not to say ‘Christmas’ and instead refer to it as the ‘winter closure period’.

In 2017, budget supermarket Lidl faced a backlash after removing Christian symbols from its packaging to remain ‘religiously neutral’. The chain released an assortment of Greek food with photos of the famous Anastasis Church in Santorini, Greece. But some customers noticed that the packaging did not contain the Christian crosses that usually adorn the top of the church dome

According to a nine-page guide to “inclusive language” released late last year, Christmas is too “Christian-focused.”

Staff were also advised not to ask students ‘what is your first name?’ but instead say “what’s your first name?” or “what is your first name?”

More and more companies are being criticized for their awakened modern advertising, including Costa Coffee last week.

The UK’s largest coffee chain was accused of glorifying ‘complex and dangerous surgery’ by covering a van with a cartoon image of mastectomy scars.

Costa defended the image’s use to promote “inclusiveness and diversity,” but was labeled “crassy and irresponsible” and “absolutely bonkers” — and there were calls for a boycott of the company on social media.

In May, Adidas faced backlash over using a biological male model to promote a women’s swimsuit in its “Pride 2023” collection.

The sportswear giant drew anger from fans who accused it of ‘mocking women’ when it unveiled an advertisement for the £50 swimsuit, which is part of its campaign to ‘uphold inclusive values’.

An angry fan said the backlash was Adidas’ “Bud Light moment,” following on from the debacle the American beer brand faced after it launched an ad campaign featuring a transgender social media influencer.

Sales of the beer plummeted due to the backlash, and parent company Anheuser-Busch saw £2.4 billion ($3 billion) wiped from its market cap after its paid partnership with Dylan Mulvaney was revealed in early April.