The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of Germany released an emotional campaign video, but it was revealed that the featured landscapes were from Denmark, and the actors were foreign extras.
The video includes scenic shots of a wooden bridge, reeds, and a fjord. A voiceover proclaims, “Our goal is a Germany admired by the world.” However, these visuals were taken from the website of a Danish company promoting vacation rentals. According to the FAZ newspaper, the footage was supplied by an international agency that sells videos globally.
Additionally, none of the individuals shown in the ad have any connection to Germany. A blonde woman playing in the grass was filmed in Denmark, a boy working on a laptop turned out to be an American who had previously appeared in commercials, and a woman with a moon tattoo was also from the United States.
According to BILD, CDU representatives explained the incident as a mistake by the party office, stating that the source materials did not specify where the footage had been filmed.
This is not the party’s first advertising mishap. In 2023, the CDU mistakenly used an image of the presidential palace in Tbilisi, Georgia, thinking it was the Reichstag in Berlin.
