Leica’s ad agency denies releasing Tiananmen Square ‘Tank Man’ film without approval

F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi says it would not risk its reputation with such a move

Promotional advert for camera maker sparked uproar on Chinese social media for its references to the bloody crackdown in Beijing in 1989

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The company that produced a controversial promotional video for camera maker Leica has denied doing so without its client’s knowledge. Photo: YouTube

Published: 12:21pm, 20 Apr 2019Updated: 5:27am, 5 Jun 2019

The saga of a Leica promotional video featuring the Tiananmen Square crackdown that landed the company in hot water in China took another turn on Friday, when the ad agency that produced it pushed back against the camera maker’s attempts to distance itself from the ad.

Following public uproar in China and censorship of the brand on social media, Leica Cameras AG said on Thursday it had neither commissioned nor authorised the five-minute video – entitled The Hunt – that depicted photojournalists covering Beijing’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy activists in 1989.

Yet despite Leica’s efforts to disavow the video, F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, the ad company that represents the German firm in Brazil and which produced the film, said on Friday that it was “developed together” with its client’s representatives in Brazil.

F/Nazca “would never [harm] its huge reputation by creating, producing and airing a work without the proper approval of its client”, spokeswoman Carolina Aranha said in an interview on Friday.

F/Nazca says it has represented Leica since 2012. Photo: YouTube

The agency was “immensely proud” of the video, which was released earlier this week, and was confident it had “delivered a remarkable piece”, she said.

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