World Jewish Congress Blasts Amazon Over Sales of Hitler T-Shirts By 3P Seller

[Kristijntje]

The leading US internet retailer Amazon.com has withdrawn T-shirts for children and women emblazoned with ‘I love Hitler’ from its website following a protest by the World Jewish Congress.

The WJC’s secretary-general Michael Schneider had said in a statement: “We are shocked and disgusted that Amazon.com is seemingly unwilling to stop the sale of such items, in spite of protests earlier this year. Not only is the slogan in bad taste, but to target children with clothes emblazoned with pro-Nazi slogans is particularly despicable. Companies have a responsibility. To make money with items glorifying the Nazis sets a very bad example. A lack of sensibility will ultimately do them serious damage as customers will rightly go and shop elsewhere.”...

full press statement: http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/news/...mazon.html

Related IR article:

Amazon has guidelines for merchants that describe what items can be sold through the Amazon platform, the spokeswoman says, “but with millions of items on the site, occasionally items are listed that we feel are inappropriate.”

Amazon did not identify the merchant selling the T-shirts. The World Jewish Congress referred to the products as the Direct Collection line...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=26171

[BellisimaJ.]

The leading US internet retailer Amazon.com has withdrawn T-shirts for children and women emblazoned with ‘I love Hitler’ from its website following a protest by the World Jewish Congress.

It should NOT have required a protest!!

[amy]

[quote author=BellisimaJ. link=topic=17757.msg69511#msg69511 date=1209219519]

The leading US internet retailer Amazon.com has withdrawn T-shirts for children and women emblazoned with ‘I love Hitler’ from its website following a protest by the World Jewish Congress.

It should NOT have required a protest!!
[/quote]

No, it shouldn't have required a protest for Amazon to remove them.

On the plus side they removed them and didn't react the same way the scumbags at Yahoo Auctions did in a similar situation.  Yahoo spent over 5 years fighting human rights groups and the French government in the French courts (and 6 years in the US courts) for the right of sellers to sell Nazi memorabilia on Yahoo Auctions (not really surprising that Yahoo would do this since this is also the same company that has shown a willingness to aid the Chinese government in censoring journalists and committing human rights abuses against dissenters).

[xwpopper]

Yet they leave this one up:
http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Manson-Ame..._1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1209231258&sr=1-1

Hitler is offensive, but Manson isn't?

[BellisimaJ.]

[quote author=amy link=topic=17757.msg69513#msg69513 date=1209220777]

No, it shouldn't have required a protest for Amazon to remove them.

On the plus side they removed them and didn't react the same way the scumbags at Yahoo Auctions did in a similar situation.  Yahoo spent over 5 years fighting human rights groups and the French government in the French courts (and 6 years in the US courts) for the right of sellers to sell Nazi memorabilia on Yahoo Auctions (not really surprising that Yahoo would do this since this is also the same company that has shown a willingness to aid the Chinese government in censoring journalists and committing human rights abuses against dissenters).

[/quote]

I find that totally disgusting. And I wonder sometimes exactly where we're headed with human rights.
I also can not understand why large companies usually seem to have so much difficulty in creating a company culture with a social conscience. It absolutely infuriates me, and always surprises me. 

[quote author=xwpopper link=topic=17757.msg69517#msg69517 date=1209231332]
Yet they leave this one up:
http://www.amazon.com/Charles-Manson-Ame..._1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1209231258&sr=1-1

Hitler is offensive, but Manson isn't?
[/quote]

Well, I think that should also come down. As should the t-shirts that promote cock fighting and dog fighting. All of it is very wrong, IMO.

Manson and Hitler, however, are 2 very different things. Hitler killed approximately 10 million people. My Grandparents entire family (with the exception of 2 cousins) was slaughtered by Hitler at Auschwitz. Hitler nearly destroyed an entire culture.

Manson, while an evil misogynistic sociopath, managed to be caught before more than a few people died.

To sell t-shirts that celebrate Hitler is an insult to the people who died, their survivors, and the men and women who died fighting him. Millions .

[regic]

I also can not understand why large companies usually seem to have so much difficulty in creating a company culture with a social conscience. It absolutely infuriates me, and always surprises me.

It never surprises me when a large corporation doesn't have any conscience.

[BellisimaJ.]

[quote author=regic link=topic=17757.msg69523#msg69523 date=1209255607]

I also can not understand why large companies usually seem to have so much difficulty in creating a company culture with a social conscience. It absolutely infuriates me, and always surprises me.

It never surprises me when a large corporation doesn't have any conscience.
[/quote]

It really shouldn't surprise me any longer.