May 29, 2013

"Kudos to @JCPenney for the right tone in response. #SocialMediaDoneRight."

It's good to know that JC Penney didn't intend to make the teapot look like Hitler. And it's cute to say "If we'd designed the kettle to look like something, we would've gone w/a snowman :)" and include this essence-of-cute pic:



But I've got to step on the cuteness and say: That's not a tea kettle. That's a teapot.

Don't let the old song confuse you.

22 comments:

Unknown said...

What? No Bush bashing?
No references to Cheney?
Penney's is slipping.

gerry said...

IT'S GOT A CARDINAL ON IT!

YOU GO, TEAPOT!

Mogget said...

No one can ever extend an arm again? I don't see Hitler at all. Then again, I don't spend much time thinking about Hitler, so maybe that's why.

sakredkow said...

I ordered the entire "Leaders of the Third Reich" tea set.

Tibore said...

Arrrrgh, the snowman's a half-palm turn from the Nazi salute! OFFENDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

gerry said...

I ordered the entire "Leaders of the Third Reich" tea set.

I saw that. I especially liked the Goering sugar bowl.

Known Unknown said...

I'M A LITTLE TEAPOT
SHORT AND STOUT
HERE IS MY HANDLE
HERE IS MY SPOUT
WHEN I GET ALL STEAMED UP
I JUST SHOUT
"ROUND UP JEWS AND BURN THEM OUT!"

Phil 314 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Eric the Fruit Bat said...

The internet is an amazing thing. Link.

Clyde said...

I'm sure that teapot confirms the link between fascism and cardinals for baseball fans in Milwaukee, Chicago, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

edutcher said...

My cousin was a librarian for a long time and a publisher once sent them a promotional item about their new history collection - on the back of a cutout of Dolf at Compiegne.

He hung it in his window at Christmas.

Cedarford said...

I think the people that saw Hitler in a teakettle are the same sort of people that periodically see the true image of Jesus on a potato chip or cow flop in the back field.

Mitch H. said...

Damnit, phx, now I have that damn "Hitler has only got one ball" song stuck in my head.

rhhardin said...

The 30s editions of Das Deutsche Lightbild, the German photo annual, have good Hitler photos, artistry and German photographic skills put to work.

Many adoring crowds but no styrofoam columns. They need another invention.

Ken Mitchell said...

Anybody who thought that this snowman looks even REMOTELY like Hitler is a severely disturbed person.

Astro said...

Oh, geez. I'm in trouble.
I've been boiling the water for my french press coffee maker in a tea kettle.

I hope teapot Hitler and his grammar Nazis don't arrest me. Maybe I can claim it's just a kettle, not a tea kettle.

"First they came for the cocoa, but I did not speak out because I was not a cocoa drinker, ..."

Darrell said...

No, the snowman does not look like Hitler. But the product Penny's was selling did. This is the equivalent of shouting "squirrel!" to numb the criticism. I don't see how that is handling the situation like you should. How about, we regret that our buyers did not see how it could be viewed that way. We apologize to anyone who was offended, and we will gladly refund your purchase price if you wish to return the item.

MPH said...

I'm a cynic.

I think the Hitler pot was put out there on purpose, knowing the press it would generate could be spun into good publicity. Who puts a tea pot on a billboard?

Mary Beth said...

It sold out within hours.

ErnieG said...

Then there are the cats that look like Hitler.

Sigivald said...

Darrell said: I don't see how that is handling the situation like you should. How about, we regret that our buyers did not see how it could be viewed that way. We apologize to anyone who was offended, and we will gladly refund your purchase price if you wish to return the item.

Not taking a stupid, ridiculous, manufactured "controversy" seriously is exactly the right want to handle it.

Your suggested Sincere And Earnestly Handwringing Apology, while fine for actual real problems, gives this far more credence than it deserves.

This is pareidolia, nothing more.

Darrell said...

Except, Sigi, the Hitler connection is pretty obvious if you've viewed the original tea kettle from Ann's post the previous day. Almost everyone saw it without any trouble. It was an industrial designer being too clever for his own good. Buyers should have spotted it and an apology is not out of order. Bringing up a snowman tea pot (out of the clear blue) is NOT the way to handle such things. Admit that you see it now and move on.