Wednesday, July 06, 2011

It doesn't always pay to advertise

Gee, I can't possibly see how anybody would have had a problem with this:
A gigantic Nazi seaside resort on Germany's Baltic coast in the town of Prora has been turned -- after decades of disuse and decay -- into one of the country's largest youth hostels.

Yet initial advertisements highlighting its Nazi past as the "World famous" Strength through Joy (Kraft durch Freude) project caused objections from local historians and led to a marketing U-turn, but not before the German media took notice.
You can kind of picture the meeting at the advertising agency...

"Say, advertising the whole connection between our vacation property and one of the world's most bloodthirsty, murderous regimes might attract some interest."

"Well, nobody else is really mining the skinhead demographic, and those guys must have at least a few bucks/Euros. What the hell--let's do this thing!"

"Seig heil!"

"Okay, I appreciate your enthusiasm for the ad campaign, but, really, that's not cool."

"Sorry. I just got carried away."

"It periodically happens."

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