Shampoo ad using Hitler’s image sparks outrage, calls for removal

Eric Pfeiffer
·Reporter

A new Turkish shampoo commercial featuring video of Adolf Hitler declaring the hair rinse a product for "real men" has been met with formal complaints from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and others who say it is deeply offensive.

"We follow with sadness and regret the use of Hitler figure in the Biomen Men Shampoo advertisement, which was brought to the screen in recent days," the Turkish Jewish Community said in a statement. "It's totally unacceptable to make use of Hitler, the most striking example of cruelty and savagery. ... Using him in an advertisement for whatever reason is an unacceptable situation and could not be accepted by us at all. This is beyond all ethics as well as a huge insult to human rights."

The ad has been running on Turkish television stations for about a week, AFP reports.

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.

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