An edgy advertising stunt by a Turkish personal care products company, starring Adolf Hitler, has invoked public outrage.
The commercial shows Hitler addressing a public, with the following words superimposed: "If you're not wearing women's clothes, you shouldn't be using women's shampoo either. Here it is. A real man's shampoo! Biomen. Real men use Biomen!"
Within hours of the advertisement being posted on the Internet, many took to blogs and YouTube, panning the parent company Biomed, while referring to the commercial as "disgusting" and "sick."
However, some argued that the commercial doesn't endorse the Nazi party or its leader, and is only an "attempt at humor."
In the ad from shampoo maker "Biomen," archived video of former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is played in which he is seen yelling and gesturing wildly with his hands, while a fictional text translates his message across the screen.
"If you are not wearing a woman's dress, you should not use her shampoo either," Hitler says in the ad. "Here it is, a real mens' shampoo, Biomen." The video then cuts to a picture of the shampoo bottle with the on-screen message, "Real men use Biomen."
ADL National Director, and Holocaust survivor Abraham H. Foxman called the advertisement "disgusting" in a statement released by the group.
"The use of images of the violently anti-Semitic dictator who was responsible for the mass murder of 6 million Jews and millions of others in the Holocaust to sell shampoo is a disgusting and deplorable marketing ploy," Foxman said. "It is an insult to the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust, those who survived, and those who fought to defeat the Nazis.
Poster Comment:
I'm not sure who is supposed to be offended. Shampoo users? Hitler? Oh wait, is it because of the connection with showers? I'm a real man; I'll buy some. 1488.....