Online retailer made fun of Alice Weidel Galaxus boss was surprised by fierce criticism from Switzerland

An advertising clip from online retailer Galaxus that made fun of Alice Weidel caused quite a stir. In an interview, company boss Florian Teuteberg expresses his surprise at the strong reactions in the domestic market.

In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, Galaxus CEO Florian Teuteberg expressed his surprise at the reactions in Switzerland to the controversial AfD commercial.

The reactions of Swiss customers to the clip were stronger than those from Germany, as the head of the online retailer told the newspaper. "They said we should stay out of such topics and be more apolitical," says Teuteberg.

The clip features an actress who, in the style of the popular guessing game "Who am I?" asks questions about a wanted person. The woman looks more annoyed with each question until she finally realizes: The person she is looking for could be AfD leader Alice Weidel.

"Seriously? Then I am Alice ... ", she says - and starts to retch. The sound is muted at the last name of the AfD leader. But the player is wrong: "Luckily," she says with relief and immediately realizes: "Then I'm Galaxus."

The clip caused heated discussions in the comments when it was released - and lots of clicks. On YouTube alone, the video had been viewed 5.6 million times by early Saturday evening.

In Germany, Galaxus had expected the advertising clip, which takes the AfD politician Alice Weidel to task, to make waves, Teuteberg explains in the interview. The commercial had not passed through his desk beforehand. "I let the people in marketing do it," he said.