Wednesday, September 9, 2009

It was inevitable: This blog is Godwinned (slight nudity)

Not even a social issues marketing blog is immune from Godwin's Law, which states "As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1"...

Well, here it is. An ad by Germany's das comitee that compares AIDS to Hitler:



And here it is in German:



The steamy TV ad can be seen here: (warning: there's even more nudity and sex in it)



And here's the campaign web site.

So, is this more, less, or just as justified as the rejected World Trade Center WWF ads that I blogged last week? Does 60+ years make a historical event less inappropriate as a PSA hook?

Personally, I just find this shock ad a little creatively lazy. The reason Godwin's Law is an internet meme is because invoking Hitler or Nazis in a non-WWII-themed discussion is seen as a lazy troll tactic. Is this ad any better, just because it's for an important cause?

If shock ads are what it takes to further raise AIDS awareness in the 21st century, I prefer the French approach.

UPDATE: Vice Magazine covers the PR hitlerf*ck of the agency's explanation. (via @Copyranter)

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