And he’s not wearing a condom!
At least, that’s the general theme of this anti-AIDS video that has upset a number of AIDS activists.
Apparently, the objection is to showing an AIDS-infected Hitler is that it will portray AIDS sufferers in a negative light:
The commercial was produced by the young Hamburg-based advertising agency das comitee on behalf of a small German Aids awareness group called Regenbogen e.V.
The group could not be contacted for comment this morning but defended its controversial approach on the “AIDS is a mass murder” website.
“The campaign is designed to shake people up, to bring the topic of Aids back to centre stage, and to reverse the trend of unprotected sexual intercourse. Because anyone can become infected,” the website states.
Hans Weishäupl, creative director of das comitee, told the Telegraph that it proposed the Hitler film after being briefed by Regenbogen e.V to come up with hard-hitting ideas.
“A lot of people are not aware that Aids is still murdering many people every day. They wanted a campaign which told young people that it is still a threat,” he said. “In Germany, Hitler is the ugliest face you can use to show evil”.
Mr Weishäupl said that the some members of the Regenbogen e.V organisation who have Aids raised concerns that the campaign could present a negative view of sufferers, but they agreed that the advert’s shock value could help prevent the spread of the infection.
I guess this represents a sexual violation of Godwin’s Law, but considering the penchant for inserting Hitler into almost every political argument, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see Hitler being inserted into sexual matters (and even orifices). At least the film’s producers were sensitive enough not to portray Hitler as a gay man. (There is a well-established “Hitler was gay” meme among certain conspiracy theorists.)
I guess if they really wanted to ratchet this up a notch, they could show Hitler as a “gay teabagger,” with Anderson Cooper on the receiving end. (They could factor in the lone nut theory to make it easier on poor Anderson.)
But don’t get me wrong! Just as I am against violating Godwin’s Law, I’m also against sexually violating Godwin’s Law.
Ridiculing such violations should not be construed as praise.
Comments
3 responses to “Hitler is coming!”
That ad was pornographic. I could care less that a Hitler visage was used to show unprotected sex is a bad idea.
We ought to applaud their restraint in not using George Bush. But didn’t Benneton do a “Reagan with AIDS” ad some years ago?
Never make the mistake of assuming a subject is too disgusting or counterproductive or merely stupid for the progressives to exploit.
Perhaps my greatest objection to the ideas behind this ad is that AIDS “murders” anyone. Once again, the lines between volitional human behavior and a natural process are erased. We saw this with the WWF WTC/tsunami ad, where a calculated act of mass murder is equated to, and found wanting against a natural event unrelated to human activity.
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