Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Yeah, whoops...

You know how they say any publicity is good publicity? It turns out that the aphorism doesn't necessarily apply when said publicly is for people getting upset with you for festooning New York city subway trains in Nazi livery.
Well, at least they're running on time...
I'm sure there's a 'Vote Trump' joke in here
somewhere, but I'm too classy to make it.
Remember a few days ago when I mentioned The Man in the High Castle? Well I did. It's a TV series based on Phillip K. Dick's book about an alternate 1960's in which the United States is jointly occupied by Nazis and Imperial Japan after loosing World War II. It's a totally good book, and what I've seen of the series is great too. What's not so great? The aforementioned advertising campaign which is designed to make New Yorkers feel like they're living under the oppressive rule of fascists.

"We want something that says watch
our new show, but also reminds
people of the Holocaust. So...ideas?"
Everyone, like everyone is calling this a terrible, horrible, ill-conceived idea. The Anti-Defamation League pointed out that the advertising lacks context and that it's not like super clear that this is a commercial for a new TV show, but instead kind of suggests that the MTA kind of misses Hitler. Governor Cuomo demanded that the ads be pulled and Mayor de Blasio called the them "irresponsible and offensive to World War Two, Holocaust survivors, their families and countless other New Yorkers." So you kind of have to wonder who was on board with this in the first place?

Amazon Studios (who produces the series) took this opportunity to appologize-wait, that's not the right word. They took this opportunity to explain-you know? That's not right either. They took this opportunity to plug their production company:

Amazon and Amazon Studios:
Why leave the house? Like, ever?
"Amazon Studios creates high-quality, provocative programming that spurs conversation. The Man in the High Castle, based on an acclaimed novel, explores the impact to our freedoms if we had lost World War II. Like transparent and the movie Chi-Raq, stories that society cares about often touch on important thought-provoking topics. We will continue to bring this kind of storytelling to our customers."

-Amazon's actual official statement 
about how great their streaming service is 

It's more of an adpology. You know, a thinly-veiled advertisement a company puts out that's not so much about saying they're sorry as it is about reminding us how great their product and/or service is in the hopes that we'll forget about that time they reopened the old wounds of the 20th century's biggest horror show?
"I literally don't know the meaning of the word
'apologize.' Like what is it? Some kind of fruit?" 

-Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO

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