Amazon has pulled ads for its series The Man in the High Castleplastered throughout theNew York City subway system thatfeatured symbols from Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, Varietyreports.
The new series, based on Philip K. Dicks 1962 novel of the same name, is an alternate history that imagines a world where the Allies lost World War II. The American coasts arecontrolled by Nazi and Japanese puppet regimes, while a free section remains in the Rocky Mountains.
The now-nixed promotion included posters in 260 subway stations, as well as a wrap of the 42nd street Shuttle car, which runs between Grand Central Station and Times Square. For the immersive Shuttle campaign, the inside and outside of the cars were covered in images from The Man in the High Castle, and notably featured subway seats covered in vinyl wrapping embossed with either a variation on Japans WWII-era flag, or an American flag with the stars replaced by a Nazi Reichsadler eagle.
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The posters first went up on November 9th, while the Shuttle wrap arrived on November 15th; both were scheduled to run through December 14th.
As Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for New York City Transit and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority explained, the ads did not breakany of the organizations advertising standards. Specifically, ads are supposed to be content-neutral and cannot push for a certain cause.
The MTA is a government agency and cant accept or reject ads based on how we feel about them, Ortiz said. We have to follow the standards approved by our board.
The ads nevertheless caused a stir among passengers and advocacy groups, and also drew the ire of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who said in a statement, While these ads technically may be within MTA guidelines, theyre irresponsible and offensive to World War II and Holocaust survivors, their families, and countless other New Yorkers. Amazon should take them down.
The Man in the High Castle debuted its first season on Amazon last Friday. The show was given a full season orderafter its pilot premiered in January and became the sites most-watched show since it began developing original programming.