Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Controversial Cell Phone Ad Pokes Fun at Holocaust
City News Toronto ^ | 14 September 2007 | City News Staff (Toronto)

Posted on 09/14/2007 4:32:54 AM PDT by timsbella

It was supposed to be a harmless advertisement for a telecommunications company, but all it ended up demonstrating was an advertiser's negligence and extremely poor taste.

The Solo Mobile ad, which Thursday hung high above the crowds inside Downsview Station, depicts a tearful woman wearing a series of buttons, one of which reads "Belsen was a gas," a reference to Bergen-Belsen, a Nazi concentration camp used during the Second World War.

CityNews was notified of the offensive ad by an angry viewer, who like many we spoke to, had little to say in favour of the tasteless display.

"I was pretty stunned when I saw it," said Jonathan Warren. "I thought, 'Whose oversight was this?'"

It's an oversight that was easy enough to make for the thousands of commuters who passed under the massive poster, but for Bell Mobility, which owns Solo Mobile, it was an unacceptable error in judgment and one their executives were quick to respond to by issuing the following statement:

"We are in the process of removing all of these particular Solo Mobile ads... running these ads was an error on our part and one we certainly regret. You won't see them again of course."

As for Warren, he says Bell's course of action is the only one possible, though it doesn't change his view of the company.

"I would hesitate to say that it's sending an anti-Semitic message," Warren continued. "What it's sending is that the corporations that have put that out there are pretty unobservant."

As of Thursday there were 51 of the ads around Toronto and Vancouver, all of which Bell promised would be removed by the day's end.

(Excerpt) Read more at citynews.ca ...


TOPICS: Canada; Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: antisemitism; holocaust; punkrock; sexpistols
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-28 last
To: timsbella; All

Imagine the outrage if this ad was directed against Islam...


21 posted on 09/14/2007 6:49:01 AM PDT by wingsof liberty
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: timsbella

*HUG*


22 posted on 09/14/2007 7:44:30 AM PDT by fanfan ("We don't start fights my friends, but we finish them, and never leave until our work is done."PMSH)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: timsbella

Rosh Tov!


23 posted on 09/14/2007 7:46:48 AM PDT by TypeZoNegative (Trinidad&Tobago: Proof that a Muslim minority (5%pop) causes a majority of a country's problems.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TypeZoNegative
L'shana tova tikatevu.
24 posted on 09/14/2007 8:47:04 PM PDT by Ciexyz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Ciexyz

I’m kind of a neophyte when it comes to Hebrew. What does everything except “tova” mean? I always like increasing my vocabulary when it comes to foreign languages.


25 posted on 09/14/2007 9:02:10 PM PDT by TypeZoNegative (Trinidad&Tobago: Proof that a Muslim minority (5%pop) causes a majority of a country's problems.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: timsbella
This is Toronto. This is right at the High Holidays. It's unbelievable.

Just bidness. I recall seing some expensively produced promotional materials from Polaroid Corp which featured high-quality color photos of KKK robes and hoods artistically arranged, draped on a chair and table. This was in the 1990's. The Black sales rep who showed them to me was not amused.

26 posted on 09/14/2007 9:09:59 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TypeZoNegative
What does everything...mean? Um...that's a good question for an "Ask the rabbi" website.
27 posted on 09/14/2007 9:14:39 PM PDT by Ciexyz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Ciexyz; TypeZoNegative

It means Happy New Year to everyone ;)


28 posted on 09/15/2007 3:28:55 AM PDT by timsbella (Mark Steyn for Prime Minister of Canada! (Steve's won my vote in the meantime))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-28 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson