Wiesenthal Centre denounces Hitler wine, calls for boycott

[webfact]

Wiesenthal Centre denounces Hitler wine, calls for boycott

LOS ANGELES: -- The Los Angeles-based human rights group released a statement urging wine distributors in Italy and around the world to stop selling wine portraying Hitler on its labels, as the wine-producing company uses the Nazi regime and their heinous leader as a blatant marketing tool.

The statement was brought about after a Norwegian couple visited the coastal town of Rimini and admitted they were dismayed to see the Nazi-themed labels on wines produced by Vina Lunardelli in the country's northeast.

The similar case happened last year when Matthew Hirsch, an American lawyer, and his wife, ran into an entire collection of bottles featuring Hitler on labels at a supermarket in the northern Italian city of Garda.

Though the then-minister of integration, Andrea Riccardi, in an interview to the investigation officials, stated that "this offends the memory of millions of people and risks compromising the image of Italy abroad," the wine bottles, also featuring images of Benito Mussolini, the Italian fascist dictator, and Winston Churchill, former British prime minister, are still in stock and available.

Rabbis Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Wiesenthal Center, confessed in the statement he was adamantly against this practice: "How sickening is it that such a company operates in a country which first embraced fascism and later when occupied by the Germans saw many of its countrymen executed by the Nazi Third Reich?"

Alessandro Lunardelli, the company’s head, in an effort to defend his company and his labels, pointed out that it was merely "a joke” not meaning to offend anyone, but has served as a very effective promotion tool."

Full story: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_08_12/Wiesenthal-Centre-denounces-Hitler-wine-calls-for-boycott-4382/

-- THE VOICE OF RUSSIA 2013-08-12

[stoneyboy]

Could prove very popular here in LOS.

[Jingthing]

Could prove very popular here in LOS.

Only if it's priced 10x its worth ...

[bobl]

How long before somebody doesn't RTFA and launches into a Thailand rant...

Please wait at least 5 minutes while I prepare some popcorn...

[Jingthing]

Does it pair well with Schnitzel?

It's hard to take this very seriously.

The complaint is valid but the winery was just trying a cheap publicity stunt and now they get all this free publicity!

[Credo]

I have a feeling it will leave a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths.

[Gsxrnz]

Just what we need, another Hitler/Nazi thread.

[Payboy]

Just need fries to complete that HFC happy meal.

[OmegaRacer]

I remember them selling that wine already 20 years ago. They also had a Che Guevara and Stalin wine.

[Suradit69]

How long before somebody doesn't RTFA and launches into a Thailand rant...

Please wait at least 5 minutes while I prepare some popcorn...

Yes, we should be hearing all about the poor educational system in Thailand and how ill-informed and Thai-centric everyone here is and already the usual Thai bashers are discussing the fictional, what-if distribution of the wine in Thailand.

Odd how when something happens in Thailand we get all the nonsense about the short-comings of Thais and their education and their culture, but when pretty much the same thing happens in the vastly superior "established, civilized world," either no one has a comment or they rush to create some convoluted, entirely non-existent connection back to Thailand. At the very least this must at least be partially blamed on the height of railings on Thai balconies.

I'm surprised that Thailand hasn't (yet) been blamed for the bombing of Hiroshima or the attacks on the World Trade Center or Michael Jackson's death .

[Suradit69]

Does it pair well with Schnitzel?

It's hard to take this very seriously.

The complaint is valid but the winery was just trying a cheap publicity stunt and now they get all this free publicity!

Certainly any reference to Hitler in Thailand is taken seriously here, no matter how childish or ridiculous the circumstances, but then when it comes to excuses for Thai bashing, the bar isn't set very high.

[tingtongteesood]

Maybe they are just as badly educated there as they are here....? NOBODY should EVER do anything to glorify those evil Nazi gits !

[Scott]

This thread is starting to go off-topic. One post has been deleted.

Edit: And now another post has been deleted. The topic is about wine, not whining.

[Jingthing]

I like the Wiesenthal Center but I would prefer that at this point in history they focus on the few remaining live Nazi war criminals as opposed to Fried Chicken and wine logos. In 10 years, they'll probably ALL be gone. At that point, plenty of time for the chicken and wine ... uh oh, I'm getting hungry now.

[GentlemanJim]

Well I think the art work on the bottles is splendid. You can also get a bottle of General Goring a Himmler and a cheeky bottle of Rommel, none of them to be outdone by a nice sweet bottle of Eva Braun. All the Wiesanthal center have done is to give invaluable marketing. Contrary to their arguments I believe after a tipple of Furhrer, followed by a Rommel, bar chat would soon start on the true characters of those on the art work of each bottle. Totally harmless and the company has now been given front page articles world-wide.

[Credo]

I believe the Furher has a bit of a nutty flavor to it.

[Jingthing]

I believe the Furher has a bit of a nutty flavor to it.

1941 was a very good year, or so an old Nazi once told me ...

[Tchooptip]

Not sure to be in very good taste.

[Jingthing]

r-HITLER-WINE-large570.jpg

Not sure to be in very good taste.

Sold as a novelty item only. Not for human consumption.

[GentlemanJim]

r-HITLER-WINE-large570.jpg

Not sure to be in very good taste.

I bet they taste very good. Just think of the red wine induced conversations of how we kicked Fritz's ass. I think we are too hung up on everything to do with his name. They have many other bottles as well with many different names on. In terms of soldiering and airmanship Rommel and Goring have to go down as true master tacticians and warriors. Monty had the utmost respect and admiration for Rommel and the Germans paid a heavy price for Hitlers obsession with eradicating the jews and Gypsies. By stopping this man from labeling his bottles how he wants we are saying 'hush now, don't mention his name and we can forget about him'. We should not forget, in the UK we renew our promise to our war dead every November that we will not forget. And remember, what Hitler did was child's play compared to the Japanese rampage through China. I guess we should all turn our tV's off every time there is a Dracula movie on as the character was based on one of the worst murderers ever to be born on European soil, and we all tend to admire Ghengis Khan and his romp across the world, forgetting the cruel sadistic genocide he inflicted wherever he traveled. At the end of the day.........it's just a bottle of wine and if we said nothing hardly anyone would know about it and the outrage bus would be empty.

[Jingthing]

Wine, schwein.

I draw the line at Hitler Lampshades ...

[marell]

I don't get it. If the Wiesenthal Centre is so upset about someone using Hitler's image as a "blatant marketing tool" then why are they giving them all this marketing assistance? It's a stupid stunt, ignore it.

[Credo]

Names like Timberlane, Ghengis Khan, Atilla the Hun and others are a part of history. Nobody is left who remembers them or has a parent, grandparent or great grandparent that suffered at their hands. They are certainly not forgotten and neither will Hitler, but I think there is at least one more generation that needs to pass on before he will not evoke an emotional response.

[Dap]

Does it pair well with Schnitzel?

It's hard to take this very seriously.

The complaint is valid but the winery was just trying a cheap publicity stunt and now they get all this free publicity!

Certainly any reference to Hitler in Thailand is taken seriously here, no matter how childish or ridiculous the circumstances, but then when it comes to excuses for Thai bashing, the bar isn't set very high.

That's cuz' everyone knows full well that you are poised to respond appropriately.

A tip o' the hat for that mate, someones go to do it, and you do it well

[OmegaRacer]

Names like Timberlane, Ghengis Khan, Atilla the Hun and others are a part of history. Nobody is left who remembers them or has a parent, grandparent or great grandparent that suffered at their hands. They are certainly not forgotten and neither will Hitler, but I think there is at least one more generation that needs to pass on before he will not evoke an emotional response.

Exactly my thoughts. Once all the people directly or vaguely directly involved will have passed away and nobody left with an emotional connection to it, Hitler Fried Chicken and Nazi wines will pop up everywhere and nobody will care .....almost like now.

Not saying it's good or bad, just stating the obvious

[I Like Thai]

[Scott]

A nonsensical post has been deleted. Please stay on the topic and remember this is the World News Section.

Edit: Troll posts have now been removed as well.

[dao16]

Well, this doesn't make the stuff with Hitler in Thailand any better. It just proves that there are idiots living around the world and this stuff is still possible as long as people are willing to just go with the flow on it.

In the early 2000s, I saw a woman in a somewhat major market in Tallinn, Estonia selling a bunch of Nazi and Hitler merchandise.....and not ironically. I looked at her and she at me....and, while I don't look Asian or Jewish or anything like that, I also don't look aryan....let's say no love was lost between us.

Anyway, I think these things are reminders of how stupid people can be.

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

I have a feeling it will leave a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths.

gassy?

[geriatrickid]

The issue is sensitive to man because;

- The murders and massacres perpetrated by Mussolini and the German occupying forces in Italy caused enormous pain and suffering.

- The North African region is still very bitter in respect to the Italian invasion and the atrocities committed by the Italians.

- There is a resurgence of facist/nazi affiliated groups, particularly in the north. It comes at a time when visible minorities are being harassed, attacked and otherwise persecuted in Italy.

If one contrasts Germany and Italy, Italy never made amends nor took steps to prevent a repeat of the social chaos of Mussolini. Germans would not market such a product, nor would they purchase it. Germany has sought to teach its population about its past. Italy never did that and lives in denial about its support and participation as part of the nazi axis.