Pink Hitler Posters Cause Outrage

By Laurie Stern May 28, 2010

I have long thought that Hitler could have used a makeover. Maybe I just prefer my historical dictators to be cleanly shaven. However, jeans company New Form’s new ad campaign, which portrays the Nazi leader in Barbie-pink military garb and an armband with a red heart in place of a swastika, somehow doesn’t quite inspire me to hit the mall.

Projected on 18ft posters, according to the Telegraph, throughout the city of Palermo, Sicily, the posters read “Change Style — Don’t Follow Your Leader” and reeks of a desperate attempt to draw publicity no matter how negatively charged it may be.

Residents of Palermo, a city almost entirely devoid of Jews, have called for the posters’ removal. But a spokesperson for the agency that devised the ad, Daniele Manno, says “We have ridiculed Hitler in a way that invites young people to create their own style and not to be influenced by their peers.”

I usually admire a man who is confident enough to wear the color pink, and though I’m certainly no fashion expert, in this case I don’t think Hitler quite pulled it off.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO