Fail Volkswagen · 2020
Twelve seconds that cost Volkswagen a week
What happened
An Instagram clip for the Golf showed a giant white hand flicking a Black man away from a car and into a building whose signage briefly read as a racial slur in French. VW deleted it, apologised twice, and commissioned an internal investigation.
What went wrong
The German market has an especially low tolerance for racist imagery from its largest industrial brands, and the company's own history makes 'nobody noticed' an unacceptable defence.
The rule
Every frame, including signage in the background and the order of movement between people, is a statement about who acts on whom.
Takeaway
Storyboard reviews should describe what happens to each person in the frame in plain words. Read it aloud.