7-Eleven stores in Taiwan pull Hitler lookalike items

[n2doc]

In Taiwan, 7-Eleven stores have pulled products featuring a cartoon vampire that bears a striking resemblance to Adolf Hitler after receiving complaints from the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei (ISECO) for selling the items, according to several media reports.

The convenience store chain, whose 4,400 Taiwanese locations are owned by the President Chain Store Corp., has suspended sales of the key chains, USB drives and magnets sporting the apparent caricature of the Nazi dictator. Company officials originally denied that the cartoon was meant to depict Hitler, first calling the black square on the figure’s face a tooth, then a nose, rather than a mustache. But on Wednesday, the company acknowledged that many saw the image as offensive and said that it did not intend to be insensitive by selling the items.

“Because there are people with doubts, we've stopped selling the products for now,” a representative from 7-Eleven told the German Press Agency, according to an Israeli newspaper.

The ISECO, which is Israel’s de facto embassy to Taiwan, since China does not allow its diplomatic allies to have official ties with the island, says that while it does not think the products were meant to be a show of support for anti-Semitic ideology, the cartoon figure does signify a lack of understanding of the Nazi party’s history.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/28/7-eleven-stores-in-taiwan-pull-hitler-lookalike-items/

Vampire Hitler taking a dump?

[TheWraith]

1. That is hilariously disturbing. nt

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. A tooth? Between his nose and the top of his lip? Bahaha!

And shitting Hitler's book is upside-down, nice touch.

[closeupready]

3. That doesn't look like Hitler to me - that box is a nose, isn't it?

And Hitler had grey sideburns, not brunette. I'm not seeing it. W/E.

[dtexdem]

5. Doesn't to me either. But did that image actually work for 7-11?

Sure wouldn't make me want to buy something.

[Enrique]

4. they're not endorsing Hitler

or vampires either, for that matter. Are depictions of Hitler inherently offensive?

[TheMadMonk]

6. Just needs a little more Mao to make it palatable.

And, I am getting more than a little sick of various "minority" groups using the force of law to shut up those who individually offend them, whilst using their own special minority status to justify collective exclusivist behaviour on their own part.

[Quantess]

7. Does this seriously upset anyone?

Seriously..?

[hifiguy]

8. Looks like a plain ol' Asian-style cartoon character to me.

I wouldn't have though "Hitler" unless it was in the headline/story.

[geardaddy]

9. Man, I miss Taiwan 7-11s

You could actually get steamed cha-shao buns from the little heated box.

Where I lived there was one on every corner of the block.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. cats with black coloring under their noses are called 'hitler cats'

awful way to refer to cats but I've heard it done. :-(

[11 Bravo]

11. Looks more like the stereotypical "Jap" from a 1940's cartoon.