Canada firm apologizes for Holocaust reference in advertisement
Toronto-area commercial featuring Sex Pistols' song 'Belsen was a blast' removed from airwaves.
By Reuters Tags: Canada Holocaust Jewish WorldCanada's biggest phone company has apologized after a punk-rock reference to the Holocaust appeared on billboard advertisements for its cellphones.
The ads for Bell Canada's
"It was inadvertent," Bell Canada spokesman Mark Langton said on Friday, noting that the dozen ads were taken down as soon as the company realized its mistake. "Obviously, we would never depict such an offensive slogan in our advertising."
He said Bell officials approved the ads after examining sample images that were smaller than the final billboards. The button inscription could only be read when the ads were blown up to their full size, he said.
"In the proofing and approval materials, it was impossible to see the button, so our folks missed it."
BCE apologizes "for any offense or distress that we caused," Langton said.
The billboards appeared in mass-transit systems in Vancouver, British Columbia, as well as in Toronto, which has a large Jewish community and many Holocaust survivors.
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John Lydon, AKA Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, whose song was featured in the contreversial advert. (AP) |
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You only have to look at the photo of the singer to see he is not all there.
Errors happen. It was corrected as soon as it was noticed. Bell need not pay. They removed the ad. Case closed. If some believe anyone should pay it should be Johnny Rotten. By the way the Jewish community should be reminded they who were persecuted and assaulted during the holocaust.
Its hard for you to understand that making fun of death camps brings renewed pain to survivors? We naver thought it possible that our pain will be ridiculed. As to the Israeli reference, plenty of Israelis voice their opinions loud and clear, and we dont need antisemites with an agenda to air their hate messages.
Ridiculous, I know that Bell Canada never allows its employees to make those kind of slips re politicians, or any nationality. Its not allowed under the union. In fact Hilter should pay pay and pay again for eternity.
are you on 5057 angus dr vancover??
adam.looks like bell screw up und apologist end of it ,I just commenting to some idiotic comments like bob`s and agreeing to the like of goldstein #21 werner huber knueslistr 10 zuerich am I a hero now
#14 - People who write letters, but wish to remain anonymous, are cowards. I travel by bus in Vancouver but missed the offensive ads. A hope they are now all in the garbage where they belong.
Do you think that any company would think it wise to make light of the worst genocide in human history? From ths title of your subject I'm worried that you feel that there is Jewish Conspericy to control the media, this is paranoia my friend.
brent you`r not nice
what a joke....you can't put cream cheese on a bagel anymore without being labelled an anti-semite.... I wonder what would have happened if the pin read "Jenin was a blast!" oh right....the Muslims would be outraged, and all of us white skinned euro=descendants wouldn't care...
No excuse for Bell's faux pas..heads should roll..but par for the course for Bell..as for D.C Bob and his "phony European" comment..Bob..can you even find Europe on a map? (or North America?)
especially when it relates to: - Jewish history, particulary the holocaust of 6 million of Jews and - war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation in Palestine?
I forgot our own "shame" the north american indian
yea your right ,about hearing it. I personally feel so bad und think of it as it was all my fault but only the nazi holocaust ,think of it!! this is the only one I know, pot pol,darfur,etc. never happend
Dovale: Don't worry, here in Canada, we NEVER stop hearing about the Nazi Holocaust. After all, it is the only genocide that counts.
not a chance, maybe a small one , wich fit in a shoe box
ok bob in DC we try wery hard to change and behave to please our master in the USA
Bell should build and pay for a huge Holocaust Centre in the centre of Toronto, teaching the Canadians about what happened to the Jews. That would perhaps RING THE BELL for the Canadian Anti Semites, that are not counted on one hand anymore.
Of course, it wasn't a problem for Malcolm McLaren, who simply justified it as a form of situationist détournement. The resulting album "the great rock and roll swindle" and the associated movie are basically McLaren using the band to state themselves that they were never anything but his conceptual joke.
First do the DEED and then apologise that "WE ARE SO SORRY FOR THE MISTAKE". Really this is a well played out stupid trick.
I'm far more offended to no longer have the option to opt- out of US fluff-brained saturation of all things madonnaandallotherfluffrainedcelebrityidiots via reading only Israeli media. Serenity now!
Bell is bleeding customers. It provides lousy customer service and management has no control. This recent issue is hardly surprising. Bell is a joke.
Bell Canada did the right thing by removing the ads... something like that does slip... and they apologized! HOWEVER: when the heck will the Danish newspaper and magazine apologize to Muslims?! Oh yeah... and that was not a slip... it was "freedom of speech"! Right?!
It's marketing and arrogance. re. 'europeans' . . . what are you talking about?
Far too many of these "oops, we slipped" excuses coming out of Canada. The phony Europeans of Canada have a real European problem.
Is Bell Canada giving us a lame excuse? That small(?) poster example should fit on our screens. Lets see it (actual size) and check out the lapel button. And did SEX PISTOLS delete the song from their repertoire? Are they comfortable that Bergen-Belson was a house of horrors?
Who was the ad agency? Who was the photographer? Who was the Art Director?