Give it a fucking rest already

[Guest MrRant]

LONDON (Reuters) - Jewish groups expressed outrage Thursday that a British company was selling sport shoes with the same name as the Nazi nerve gas used to kill millions of Jews in the Holocaust.

 

Umbro, the firm that outfits the English national soccer side, said it was an "unfortunate coincidence" that its Zyklon shoe, on sale since 1999, bore the name of the poison gas Zyklon B.

 

Crystals of Zyklon B were dissolved in gas chambers at the death camps to produce the poison the Nazis used to exterminate millions of Jews and members of other minorities during World War II.

 

"We are sure that the name was not meant to cause any offence," Umbro spokesman Nick Crook said. "Going forwards we will be investigating the names more thoroughly."

 

Megasports, a British sporting goods Web site, was advertising Umbro's Zyklon Junior shoes Thursday for 20 pounds ($30). The accompanying photo showed a white running shoe with a big Umbro logo.

 

Crook said the shoe would be renamed or withdrawn from sale, but he would not say whether shoes already shipped would be removed from store shelves.

 

The name appears on the box but not on the shoes themselves, and therefore the company had no immediate plans to recall shoes already sold, he said.

 

Shimon Samuels, international liaison director of the anti-Semitism watchdog the Simon Wiesenthal Center, pointed out the name in a letter to the company's chief executive, Peter McGuigan.

 

The "outrageous misuse of the Holocaust is an insult to victims and survivors, an encouragement to neo-Nazis and skinheads who terrorize the football terraces and a dishonor to sport itself," he wrote.

 

He told Reuters his office had since been "inundated with faxes and e-mails" calling for a boycott of the company, and said that acknowledging the mistake would not be enough to address Jewish community concerns.

 

"It's not just the withdrawal and the renaming, it's an investigation into how in the world this happened," he said.

 

"If it's purely ignorance, then they need an education. If there is something deeper than ignorance, we are saying hey: you supply the football industry. The football industry is deeply infiltrated by neo-Nazi skinheads."

 

He said Umbro should recall all shoes sold under the name.

 

"There are thousands of young people walking around in these shoes that carry the whiff of gas chambers," he said.

 

"I think it would be a nice message if Umbro would take out an ad offering a recall -- 'We found a defect in our Zyklon B shoes. Bring them back and get a new pair of shoes free.' That would send a message: trade in garbage and get perfectly good shoes."

 

Somehow I don't think if Nike came out with a pair of shoes called "Nukes" there would be an outcry from the Japanese saying how "There are thousands of young people walking around in these shoes that carry the whiff of nuclear annhilation."

 

These people are the worst kind of oversensitive pricks in this world. Umbro apologized and is renaming the shoes. Good enough? Oh no. We want them all recalled even though its only the FUCKING BOXES that bear the name Zyklon.

 

Makes me want to open up a bakery and sell cookies called Sarin or something just to piss these ignorant motherfuckers off.

 

Why? Because it would be damn fun.

[Zorin Industries 0]

I find it unbelivable that 1 person didn't pick up on this before they were shipped.

 

They obviously do need an education if their that dumb.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Coincidentally, Zyklon is the name of a badass black metal band.

[Guest DARRYLXWF]

These people are the worst kind of oversensitive pricks in this world.

I hope your not generalising the Holocaust Jews. It's the worst thing to do when argueing a valid point. Just because one person, or a group of people are vocal about something, doesn't mean an entire culture is.

 

I personally, would like to know why the shoe was named 'Zyklon'

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

 

 

These people are the worst kind of oversensitive pricks in this world.  

I hope your not generalising the Holocaust Jews. It's the worst thing to do when argueing a valid point. Just because one person, or a group of people are vocal about something, doesn't mean an entire culture is.

 

I personally, would like to know why the shoe was named 'Zyklon'

WTF? If I were Jewish, I think I might be a bit pissed about a group of people wiping out 6 million of my fellow worshippers a little over half a century ago.

 

Yeah, seriously, Zyklon just isn't the most charming name for footwear.

 

ANYWAY, I don't see the big deal now that they've renamed the things and the company apologized. No harm done.

 

Edit:sp

[Guest Cancer Marney]

I'd like to know how they latched on to this name as well. An "unfortunate coincidence?" Say what? "Zyklon" isn't exactly the most natural combination of letters in the world. Does it even have any meaning antedating the gas? If not, what the hell was Umbro thinking? This doesn't sound like a case of anyone being "oversensitive." This sounds like a case of a corporate decision being appallingly insensitive and/or ignorant.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

As far as I know, Zyklon only refers to the toxic chemical.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

The only even vaguely reasonable chain of events I can imagine is that someone in Umbro's marketing department picked up on the ska/punk/metal bands using the name, and, without any idea of its origin, thought it would appeal to fans of the music.

[Guest TJH]

That would have to be the worst marketing blunder I've ever seen.

[Guest danielisthor]

As far as I know, Zyklon only refers to the toxic chemical.

and what the hell does it have to do with shoes? Basically, i can't see any reason to name a pair of shoes after a toxic chemical.

[Guest Maven's Eyebrows]

Normally I would agree, but in this case I can't say I fucking blame these people. I'd be pretty upset if Nike named a shoe "Air Hitler," and I'm not even Jewish. You don't just make up names for products.

[Guest NazMistry]

'Zyklon' is probably just Umbro's new streamlined way of saying 'Cyclone'.

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

How is that oversensitive? You can't see how someone would be upset by this?

[Guest J*ingus]

Okay, when you're in a board meeting and the question "Did anybody look this word up in the dictionary to make sure it's not a form of breast cancer or a Nazi poison gas?" gets a response of "No", it's time to think about some executive-level layoffs.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Somehow I don't think if Nike came out with a pair of shoes called "Nukes" there would be an outcry from the Japanese saying how "There are thousands of young people walking around in these shoes that carry the whiff of nuclear annhilation."

Not from the Japanese but there would be outrage from alot of left-wing whackos.

[Guest evenflowDDT]

That is a pretty stupid mistake, but if its not listed on the shoes, and the company's recalling it all based on the boxes, I can't say there's any agenda going on and that there was an honest mistake.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

The only even vaguely reasonable chain of events I can imagine is that someone in Umbro's marketing department picked up on the ska/punk/metal bands using the name, and, without any idea of its origin, thought it would appeal to fans of the music.

black metal....ska fears zyklon. heh. not really relevant, but anyway..shoes are dumb.

[Guest hardyz1]

There's an amusement park near here with a roller coaster called the Zyklon.

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

I'm sure some ex-British marketing professional or copywriter is send out his/her resume to prospective employers.

 

BTW: Didn't Nike/some other sneaker outfit offend a Muslim group by having a holy symbol or something on one brand of shoe some years back?

[Guest Ozymandias]

That would have to be the worst marketing blunder I've ever seen.

Obviously you've never heard of the HUGELY unsuccessful chain of delicatessans in America called "Mein Kampf's".

 

Yikes, talk about being asleep at the wheel....

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Jesus wept. When was that?

[Guest Ozymandias]

Just a silly joke. I should've put a afterwards.

 

My bad.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

It's pretty funny now, actually, because it was so plausible. <g>

[Guest red_file]

As was said, Zyklon is a German word for cyclone. It's not that much of a stretch to see why Umbro might've wanted to use it. On the other hand, to actually name it Zyklon B and not realize the historical implications seems to be stretching the boundaries of plausibility just a tad. Someone must have known and had a reason for wanting a shoe named after the chemical (which really is a fumigant and not an actual poison; it just happened to be used as a poison because it was convenient); that person(s) reasons would certainly be interesting to hear.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

just to dredge this thread back up, jewish groups are in a tizzy once again. however, i don't think they're being 'oversensitive mutherfuckers' on this one.

 

Luxury hotel to be built on Hitler’s mountain

 

ALLAN HALL In Berlin

 

 

A PLANNING application to build a luxury hotel on Adolf Hitler’s mountain in Bavaria was greenlighted this week.

 

The Intercontinental hotel group will build the "Berchtesgaden Intercontinental Resort" near where Hitler had his mountain home, the Berghof.

 

Authorities in Munich gave the go-ahead despite resistance from Jewish groups.

 

Before and during the Second World War, Hitler played the country squire at his lavish retreat with lackeys such as Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels, Martin Bormann, and his deputy, Rudolf Hess.

 

The British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, was entertained there during one of his frantic missions to Germany to try to prevent war breaking out.

 

In 1945 American troops seized the Berghof and it was destroyed. Only Hitler’s teahouse, perched directly on top of the Kehlstein mountain and still accessed through his personal brass-lined lift, is still there and a massive tourist draw.

 

Now where the Nazi dictator once plotted his world domination will stand the 133-room hotel, complete with a world-class golf course, tennis courts and a fitness centre.

 

The complex will cost £38 million to build and is scheduled for completion by 2005. It is planned to add a small documentation centre detailing the Nazi history of the mountain next to the hotel.

 

Jewish groups have already criticised the decision to let building go ahead.

 

"Unbelievable!" said Michel Friedman, vice chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

 

"Decisions about the murder of millions were taken here. We believe it is no place for a leisure complex."  

 

I say they have a decent shout on this one.

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

Well, it IS a nice area...

 

I don't understand the "decision about the murder of millions" thing. Maybe if there were actual murders there, sure. But the DECISIONS? I'm about to go to Washington, where many DECISIONS were made to conduct various military operations that killed people too! If you want to get picky and say it's murder, how's about the murder of oodles of Native Americans?

 

Guess I'd better not visit Paris, since that's where Catherine de Medici made the decision to slaughter Hugenots across France.

 

This one's pretty baseless. If we didn't build on areas where simple decisions were made, we wouldn't have a lot of places to build or visit.

 

Fo sheez,

Kotzenjunge

[Guest MrRant]

Its just a goddamn mountain. There are probably building on spots in America and Europe that people plotting killing others.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

sure, but the area is already a tourist attraction based specifically around the fact it was hitler's pad. if it hadn't already been established as such in the intervening years, i would say there wasn't much ground for objection. but it has been, so there is. it would be like building a luxuary themed cave resort in the afghan mountains with a quaint little plaque celebrating this is where osama planned out 9/11. now who's for golf darlings?

[Guest MrRant]

No where does it say its designed to be a tourist attraction. They are going to have little room with some info.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

Hitler’s teahouse, perched directly on top of the Kehlstein mountain and still accessed through his personal brass-lined lift, is still there and a massive tourist draw.

 

i said the is area already a tourist attraction based on the hitler connection, not that the hotel would be built with that premiss in mind. that still makes it somewhat tasteless, imo. just jars against respectfulness. of all the hilltops in all the bavarias, why build a leisure complex on that one?