Cross scrubbed from Porsche ad and then restored

Luxury car brand Porsche is facing criticism after the company released an advertisement that edited out a massive statue of Jesus Christ that overlooks the city of Lisbon, Portugal.

The controversy mirrors an incident in 2017 when Supermarket chain Lidl apologised for airbrushing Christian crosses out of images of the island of Santorini’s domed blue churches on some of its Greek-themed food packaging.

The German car company launched a campaign last week celebrating six decades of its classic Porsche 911. It released a roughly two-and-a-half-minute ad depicting the evolution of the car.

About 44 seconds into a version of the video posted on the company’s website, a car drives across the screen against the backdrop of the bridge and river that the Cristo Rei statue overlooks, but the 92-feet-tall statue of Jesus was absent from atop the 269-feet-tall concrete pedestal that remains visible across the river.

Porsche subsequently apologised: “We are truly sorry and can fully understand the hurt this has caused. This film has been removed.”

On Sunday afternoon, Porsche uploaded a new version of the ad in which the statue is restored.