AND NOW IT’S THE SS TRAIN
Show's 'Nazi' subway ad has riders saying: What the heil!
A Nazi invasion has struck subway cars thanks to an ad campaign for an Amazon show about Hitler winning World War II — and straphangers are outraged at having to ride on trains that look as if they rolled straight out of the Third Reich.
“It is insensitive and a desperate move for attention,” said Ronny Gil, 31, of Inwood in Manhattan. “It glorifies horrific crimes committed by Nazis.”
The ads for “The Man in the High Castle,” a series streaming on Amazon Prime, are especially invasive because they cover, or “wrap,” every surface of the cars on the 42nd Street shuttle train.
Even the seats have been covered with flag designs to represent the two sections of the show’s alternate version of America, in which one side is controlled by Nazi Germany and another by Imperial Japan.
The Nazi America flag in the ads has been altered from one that appears in the series. Instead of a swastika, the flag design is adorned with a Reichsadler Eagle emblem with an Iron Cross.
But that change did not lessen the disturbing effect of being reminded of Hitler’s reign on a train, the mode of transportation most closely linked to his worst crimes.
“Our concern is the Nazi imagery is being used as part of this ad campaign comes without any context,” said Evan Bernstein, New York regional director of the AntiDefamation League.
“On the television program, which explains this is the notion of an America controlled by Hitler, you get that context. On the train . . .a Nazi symbol is viscerally offensive.”
“This ad campaign has a feel of exploiting things that are so sensitive to so many people.”
The show, which became available for streaming last week, is based on a story by scifi novelist Philip K. Dick, best known for writing the stories on which the films “Blade Runner,” “Minority Report” and “Total Recall” were based.
The ad campaign shows that this new Dick adaptation is going to be more controversial than those popular movies.
One straphanger, Jay Felder of Long Island, looked shocked by the ads.
“This is terrible. Why would they want to promote that image?” Felder said. “They are offensive and they should be taken down.”
The MTA declined to say how much Amazon paid for the ads, but noted they fall under the agency’s guidelines.
“The ads do not violate our contentneutral ad standards,” said MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz
He said the campaign on the wrapped 42 nd Street shuttle will run to Dec .14 and be seen on 260 subway posters through Dec .6.