Key rings bearing an Adolf Hitler lookalike have caused outrage after going on sale in a convenience store in Taiwan
Key rings bearing an Adolf Hitler lookalike have caused outrage after going on sale in a convenience store in Taiwan.
The items, seen at several 7-Eleven convenience stores in Taipei, sported an Adolf Hitler-style cartoon figure with a short black moustache, a brown jacket and a red-black-and-white symbol reminiscent of the Nazis' swastika banners.
Strong reactions: The Hitler lookalikes appeared on USB sticks, key rings
u00a0and magnets on sale at stores in Taiwan, triggering a strong reaction
from the de facto Israeli embassy, which said it was "appalled". Pic/AFP
"We were appalled to see the Hitler lookalike image being used, again, as marketing aid, and sold in Taiwan's 7-Eleven stores," said Simona Halperin, representative of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei.
She added that she was sure the images were the result of "ignorance" and did not reflect "support or identification with the atrocities committed during the Holocaust by the Nazis."
An official from President Chain Store Corp, which runs 7-Eleven in Taiwan, denied the images were meant to represent the German dictator.
"They don't look like Hitler. It's not a moustache, but a tooth," she said, referring to a black square in the middle of the figure's face.u00a0u00a0
u00a0Meanwhile, German archives showed that Hitler was booked for going too fast in his supercharged Mercedes limousine. He was handed the fine in Baar-Ebenhausen, south of the city of Ingolstadt, on September 19, 1931.
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