Amazon’s controversial Nazi ad campaign

Stay calm it’s not that you’re thinking.

But have you thought about going back to the time of Second World War? That would be terrible feeling! Well this is the feeling some people will have to face when they board certain carriages on the New York subway, where they will find Nazi emblems printed on the seats.

These Nazi symbols are within an American flag. There is also the Japanese flag from the period of Second World War. At first people may feel uncomfortable with these symbols and will prefer to sit on them rather than to face them.

However, this is not being done to convey any political ideology, it is a controversial advertising campaign to promote Amazon’s new series, The Man In The High Castle.

It was created by writer and also executive producer Frank Spotnitz. Based on the book by Philip K.Dick, known for his works on cult sci-fi classics Blade Runner, Terminator and Minority Report. The Man In The High Castle offers a plot that is different from the reality of what happened in the second world war.

In this reenactment we are faced with a grim world in which Germany and Japan win. The United States is then divided between the two powers that control the country under a regime of fear and censorship.
The first season will have 10 episodes, which were available on the Amazon Prime service on 20th November.

The promotional piece began on November 9 in 260 subway stations and should stay until December 14, but it seems that they may not survive until the end of the campaign. The mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, had asked Amazon to withdraw the ads, saying they were “irresponsible and offensive to the survivors of Second World War and the Holocaust, their families, and many other New Yorkers.”

Besides the mayor, other social groups criticising Amazon were vocal in their dislike of the advertising. Evan Bernstein, director of the Anti-Defamation League in New York – who is not against freedom of speech but did not like the ad proposal – commented: “This campaign gives the sensation to explore things that are very sensitive to many people.”

Let’s wait to see if that campaign can survive until its intended end date but negative or not, the ad made an impact and managed to achieve its goal. People did not feel comfortable with the images, but were curious to know what it was all about, generating controversy.

So, do not be alarmed when entering one of those New York’s subway carriages this December, and you are visited by the visual of a disruptive past. This is Amazon’s reimagining of post second world war America and The Man in the High Castle.