This advertising campaign is certainly causing a stir in Italy. I generally shy away from controversy in business but there is no question that this clothing company is getting lots of publicity from its posters. Certainly far more than it paid for, and that may have been exactly the point. If you have a limited budget then getting the media to pick up on your image and company may be a great way to spread the word about your product, problem is you can't control their message.
Not sure I'd have been so bold as to do this.
Thoughts?
Not sure I'd have been so bold as to do this.
Thoughts?
Pink Hitler posters provoke fury
Giant posters of Hitler dressed in bright pink, with a love heart in place of a swastika, have provoked a furious debate in Italy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/7746436/Pink-Hitler-posters-provoke-fury.html
By Nick Squires in Rome
Published: 9:03PM BST 20 May 2010
Hitler poster in Palermo
The 18ft high posters of the Nazi leader advertise a line of clothing for young people and adorn street corners and bus stops in Palermo, Sicily's biggest city.
The ads show the Fuhrer in a lurid pink uniform, with his swastika armband replaced with one bearing a bright red heart, above the slogan "Change Style – Don't Follow Your Leader".
Many local people say the advertising campaign is offensive and have called for the posters to be taken down.
A city councillor with the centre-Left Democratic Party, Rosario Filoramo, has protested to the mayor of Palermo.
"The use of an image of a person responsible for the worst chapters of the last century is offensive to our country's constitutional principles and to the sensitivities of citizens," he said.
A council official, Fabrizio Ferrandelli, said: "Having Hitler's face on a poster... cannot be passed off as an innocent advertising message. Seeing these posters in front of schools is an embarrassment." But the advertising agency which came up with the idea said critics of the campaign were over-reacting.
The Hitler poster was a tongue-in-cheek way of encouraging young people not to follow the crowd in their fashion choices.
"We have ridiculed Hitler in a way that invites young people to create their own style and not to be influenced by their peers," said the agency's Daniele Manno.Impressionable locals will now have to brace themselves for a fresh affront – the company plans to bring out a new poster campaign in the next few weeks featuring Mao Tse Tung.