Amazon Takes Nazi Imagery-Filled Subway Ads Down Because Even Amazon Isn’t that Evil
photo via @MarisaKabas
Remember how just last month there was an uproar over a proposed subway ad campaign which would promote the purchase of underwear for women having their periods? And how that particular ad campaign was a problem because it featured a photo of a—brace yourselves—peeled grapefruit? And remember how ridiculous that was because it’s, like, the subway is home to things that are far more offensive than a sexually evocative piece of fruit, so who even cares? Like, haven’t we long since passed peak-offensiveness when it comes to subway ads? Does no one else remember the Andy-Pettitte-finds-god ads? Those were the worst!
Or, you know, were they? Turns out, they weren’t! Worse happened this week when Amazon papered one subway line with ads for its new series The Man in High Castle, which is an alternate history look at what would have happened to the world if Germany and Japan had been victorious in World War II. And in keeping with the theme of that show, the ads featured a ton of Nazi and Imperial Japanese iconography. Because grapefruit-that-looks-like-a-vagina is not cool, but fascism is? Ok!
Anyway, despite the fact that, as of yesterday, the MTA had only received one complaint about the ads, today it was announced that Amazon would be pulling the ads from the subways because… somebody finally wised up to the fact that Nazi iconography is not really a soothing background to our daily commutes? Maybe.
