Saudi TV station’s ‘offensive’ Hitler ad sparks protest
The Anti-Defamation League has protested an “offensive and outrageous” Saudi TV ad which depicts Adolf Hitler singing praises to promote MBC channel’s September film line-up.
“This offensive and outrageous campaign trivializes the
Holocaust by turning Hitler into a cartoonish poster child,”
Abraham H. Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation
League (ADL), said during a press conference.
ADL is calling for the immediate removal of the ad, which is
being aired by the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC), a
Dubai-based and Saudi-owned television network.
The ad shows extracts from the fictional Quentin Tarantino movie
“Inglourious Basterds,” which tells of several plots to
assassinate Nazi Germany's political leadership. Arabic subtitles
show Hitler’s character from the film promoting MBC’s “September
to Remember” slogan, saying “they will control the entire
region.” The slogan is referring to the channel’s selection
of films airing in September.
"Why would a Saudi media outlet want to associate itself with
one of history’s most demonic mass murderers?” Foxman asked.
“Perhaps someone thought all of this was funny, but one
wonders how it will play across the Arab World, where there is
scant education about the murder of six million Jews and millions
of others by Hitler and the Nazis and where Holocaust denial and
anti-Semitism are rampant,” the ADL Director noted.
This is not the first time the Nazi leader has been depicted in
an advertising campaign. In 2012, a Turkish shampoo company
featured an ad showing Hitler calling on men to purchase the
product. The commercial was met with public discontent and
removed from air.
