Taiwanese convenience store chain, 7-Eleven, has come under fire from the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei (ISEO) for selling a series of items featuring a cartoon vampire which looks like Adolf Hitler.
The chain, which has 4,400 stores across Taiwan, had originally denied the cartoon’s resemblance to the Nazi dictator.
However, the company has now acknowledged the offensive nature of the merchandise, which included key rings, USB sticks and magnets, following a string of complaints.
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“We were appalled to see the Hitler lookalike image being used, again, as a marketing aid and sold in Taiwan's 7-Eleven stores,” said Simona Halperin, an ISECO representative, in a statement this week.
“I find it tragic that once again people down the chain of marketing and promotion fail to recognize the meaning of the Dark Age in human history that the Nazi dictator represents,” she added.
The Nazis are a symbol of courage in Taiwan due to poor education and stores across the country are rife with Hitler-inspired merchandise.
“They’re not anti-Semitic, just ignorant,” Lin Chong-pin, a professor of strategic studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan, told the Christian Science Monitor.
The items, which went on sale Sunday and sold for $15 each, have now been pulled from the shelves of 7-Eleven stores, according to reports.
