Germany's Saturn apologises to Jamaica over commercial

German company Saturn today apologised to Jamaica for the controversial commercial that was placed on online channels and websites, according to a statement from the foreign affairs ministry.

It said the announcement follows quiet diplomacy with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany and Saturn, the company has decided ‘out of respect for the feelings of the Jamaican people’ to remove the ad from all its online channels and website and to forego airing the ad on German TV.

In a letter to Joy Wheeler, Ambassador of Jamaica at Berlin, Saturn indicated that “at no time was it the company’s intention to offend the national sentiment of the Jamaican people".

"We must nevertheless take note of the fact that the humourous approach we selected has led to some misunderstandings in Jamaica and among Jamaicans living in Germany. We sincerely regret this and would like to apologize if we have angered or offended anyone with our ad", Saturn said.

The letter stated further that the ad was meant to be “tongue-in-cheek” and was not intended to “offend the sensibilities of a segment of the population or nation or diminish the significance of the Jamaican flag”.

The Government of Jamaica accepts the apology of Saturn and is pleased at its decision to withdraw the advertisement.

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