Amazon is asking New York's public transit system to remove a set of ads that plastered Nazi and Imperial Japanese imagery across subway cars after the promotion sparked a loud backlash, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to Mashable.
The ad campaign, meant to promote Amazon's new alternate history TV series The Man in the High Castle, prominently featured an American flag with a Nazi coat of arms in place of the 50 stars as well as a variation of the Rising Sun flag of Imperial Japan.
The e-commerce giant is now backtracking on the decision to run the campaign throughout the next month after the ads caused a stir on social media on Monday. Subway riders were puzzled and offended by Amazon's choice to so flagrantly showcase the insignia of regimes that conspired to kill millions less than a century ago.
The MTA defended its decision to run the ads, maintaining that they fell within the bounds of advertising standards that preclude ads with a "political viewpoint" unless the advertiser's name is clearly visible.
Local politicians also joined in on the uproar Monday evening. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged Amazon to pull the "offensive" ads, and Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a Brooklyn democrat, even called for a boycott against the Seattle company.
“While these ads technically may be within MTA guidelines, they’re irresponsible and offensive to World War II and Holocaust survivors, their families, and countless other New Yorkers,” de Blasio said in a statement. “Amazon should take them down.”
Amazon did not immediately respond to Mashable's request for comment.
Update, Wednesday, November 25 10:30 a.m. PT: The ads were reportedly removed Tuesday night after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo demanded that the MTA pull them by the end of the day, Gothamist reported.