Russia - Fury As Lufthansa Launches World Cup Spot… Filmed in Ukraine (Video)

Just ten days to go till the World Cup soccer starts in Russia and 32 countries (excluding the USA, sorry) get to decide who follows in Germany’s footsteps as the new world champion. As the whole of Europe goes nuts for soccer and even friendly matches in which participating countries compete are sold out, many European companies try to grab a piece of the action.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lufthansa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Lufthansa</a> in soup over <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Russia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Russia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIFA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIFA</a> World Cup ad video shot in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ukraine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ukraine</a> capital <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kiev?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kiev</a> <a href="https://t.co/3qlr0zXBI2">https://t.co/3qlr0zXBI2</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/NewIndianXpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NewIndianXpress</a></p>&mdash; Jens Kobler (@betheredothat) <a href="https://twitter.com/betheredothat/status/1003945182369284102?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Like Germany’s national airline Lufthansa, whose spot for the Russian World Cup was launched yesterday, and quickly taken offline some 24 hours later, as viewers were quick to notice that what they portrayed as Moscow, was in fact the Ukrainian capital Kiev. Given that Moscow invaded part of Ukraine and annexed the region of Crimea, the apparent mistake was quite painful both for the Russians and the Ukrainians.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/lufthansa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lufthansa</a> really blew it on this one. This isn&#39;t a film where one city stands in for another. And given <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Russia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Russia</a>&#39;s gross violation of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ukraine?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Ukraine</a>&#39;s sovereignty in its over 4 year long unlawful war on the country, this is especially offensive and disrespectful of Ukraine. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MajorFail?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MajorFail</a> <a href="https://t.co/fL0k6UJcYO">https://t.co/fL0k6UJcYO</a></p>&mdash; ArianaGic/Аріянॳць (@GicAriana) <a href="https://twitter.com/GicAriana/status/1003616530368585730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Lufthansa tried to find an excuse for the obvious error, telling reporters that the advert was filmed in the Ukrainian capital for "logistical reasons."

"For videos, and especially for commercials, it is common practice not to film them at original locations."

"In this video, it is all about the idea which the viewer has of a certain place."

The spot can be seen in this video as from 41 seconds in:

<iframe width="360" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ek5Fa9UfAA4" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

After social media users criticized the German national airline, they deleted the video from all their channels and apologized both to the Ukrainians and Russians.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Please don&#39;t tell <a href="https://twitter.com/BILD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BILD</a>&#39;s political editor <a href="https://twitter.com/JulianRoepcke?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@julianroepcke</a> that Star Trek isn&#39;t actually filmed on location in outer space! <a href="https://twitter.com/lufthansa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lufthansa</a> presumably filmed in Kiev because it&#39;s a cheaper location than expensive Moscow and looks practically identical in parts. <a href="https://t.co/7kPijujAQA">pic.twitter.com/7kPijujAQA</a></p>&mdash; Bryan MacDonald (@27khv) <a href="https://twitter.com/27khv/status/1003897589266354176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Lufthansa said: "We have noticed that in this specific case this video has hurt the feelings of some viewers. We deeply regret this and apologize for this.”

Source:

http://trends.levif.be/economie/entreprises/bourde-de-lufthansa-qui-confond-kiev-et-moscou-dans-une-publicite/article-normal-848563.html