‘Nazi’ campaign poster withdrawn
British Transport Police apologise for image used in anti terrorism initiative
BRITISH Transport Police has withdrawn a poster in its newly-launched anti terrorism campaign amid outrage over its similarity to anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda.
The national rail security campaign “See it. Say it. Sorted.” was launched on November 1 at London Waterloo by Rail Minister Paul Maynard.
The campaign, a collaboration between the government, police and rail industry, features posters urging rail users to support suspicious activity.
But one image caused anger due to its similarity to an anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda poster with the Advertising Standards Authority receiving numerous complaints.
On November 8 British Transport Police announced the poster had been withdrawn.
Assistant Chief Constable Alun Thomas said: “Last week, the ‘See It, Say It, Sorted’ campaign was launched, in collaboration with our partners at the Department for Transport and the rail industry.
“The aim of this campaign was to ask people across the country to be vigilant and work together to keep each other safe from the ever present and real threat from terrorism.
“The images on each of the posters in this campaign were specially created in order to avoid using photographs of any specific individuals or groups.
“However, we are aware that one particular image has caused considerable distress due to its similarities with offensive historic propaganda.
“It is highly regrettable that this image, and its connotations, were overlooked during the development of this campaign.
“We recognise, and understand, the upset that has been caused by this.
“We, and our campaign partners, have listened to the feedback we have received and this poster has now been withdrawn.”
He added: “There are clearly lessons for us to learn with regards to quality assurance and better audience research in any future campaigns.”