Marisa Garcia Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has announced that it is pulling a new ad entitled “What Is Truly Scandinavian” following negative backlash on the message of the two-minute forty-two-second video which makes the point that travel has expanded Scandinavian culture and introduced many of the sweet elements of life in the region that Scandinavians embrace as their own.
One example includes wienerbrød pastry (what Americans call Danish) but which—as the name itself acknowledges—originally came from Austria; the recipe brought here by Viennese bakers who made their home in Denmark.
Due to a torrent of negative comments, the airline has pulled the ad from public viewing in its YouTube and Facebook channels, but it is still there unlisted and with the comments turned off.
SAS issued a statement following its decision to pull the ad as follows:
“SAS is a Scandinavian airline that brings travellers to, from and within Scandinavia. We stand by the core message in the commercial, that travel enriches us.
“When we travel, we influence our surroundings and we are influenced by others. The experiences we bring back from our travels inspire us as individuals, but also our society.
“When analyzing the pattern and volume of reactions we have reason to suspect an online attack and that the campaign has been hijacked. We do not want to risk being a platform for views that we do not share. We have therefore temporarily removed the film from our channels and we are currently evaluating the next step.”
