Urban Outfitters channels the Holocaust — again?

Via Bloomberg

Once is an accident, maybe. Twice is... suspect.

After being called out for a t-shirt design that some found reminiscent of the Star of David patch German Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust, the Anti-Defamation League has brought public attention to this tapestry.

In a similarity that is much stronger than the t-shirt in the previous scandal, this textile seems to mimic both the pink triangle the Nazis used to identify men arrested as homosexuals and the grey striped uniforms of the death camps.

Via Instinct

One can only hope that this is a terrible coincidence and not someone's sick idea of a hip cultural reference. But so far, there doesn't seem to be any apology (or response of any kind) by Urban Outfitters.

Thanks to Laura for the tip.

History repeats itself. History repeats itself. History...

Mexico City's Museo Memoria y Tolerancia is an interesting idea. In a place founded on genocide and the clash of ancient empires, the museum stands "to warn about the dangers of indifference, discrimination and violence for generating, instead, responsibility, respect and awareness in each individual."

These ads, by Mexico's Made agency, paraphrase the George Santayana  quote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" and matches it with iconic images of war and violence to amplify the message.

The effect is not subtle, and you could accuse the campaign of relying too much on borrowing interest from some of the world's great tragedies. But the message is, at least, clear. and as important now as it was over 100 years ago.

Via I Believe in Advertising