Coke Pulls Swastika-Bearing Figurine

[sbp]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030430/D7QO49TG0.html

HONG KONG (AP) - Soft drink giant Coca-Cola said Wednesday it has pulled a robot figurine adorned with what appear to be swastikas from a Hong Kong promotion following criticism from a local Jewish leader.

The company withdrew "Robowaru" from a promotional set of plastic figurines derived from the Japanese television series "Robocon," after Rabbi Yakkov Kermaier of Hong Kong complained, Coca-Cola spokesman Kelly Brooks said.

Robowaru has two swastika-like designs printed on its chest. "We regret any misunderstanding this may have caused," Brooks said in a telephone interview from Atlanta.

He said the figurines were "exact replicas" of characters featured in the television series.

The Nazi swastika can easily be confused with a similar Buddhist symbol common in Asia. The two are nearly reverse images of one another, with the arms pointing in opposite directions.

The toy set can be bought for $3.60 with any purchase of six bottles of Coke. The miniature characters stand on small plastic pedestals with Coca-Cola logos on them.

Kermaier acknowledged the figurine probably was the result of an honest mistake. Still, "it's not simply a politically incorrect symbol," Kermaier said Wednesday. "It's an emblem that represents the wholesale slaughter of 6 million Jews."

At Animation International, which sells rights for Robocon in the region and worked with Coca-Cola on the toys, spokeswoman Jennifer Chan said the symbols were designed by the creator and "did not have anything to do with any organization or religion."

Ishimori Pro, the production house of late Robocon creator Shotaro Ishinomori, declined comment on Wednesday, as did Toei, the company that owns the rights to Robocon movies and merchandise.

http://www.lemonizer.com/uploads/robowaru.jpg

[avlena]

Originally posted by sbp
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030430/D7QO49TG0.html
The Nazi swastika can easily be confused with a similar Buddhist symbol common in Asia. The two are nearly reverse images of one another, with the arms pointing in opposite directions.

so wait... are the symbols on this toy Nazi swastika's or Buddhist ones? if it is the Buddhist one, which is apparently common in Asia, then shouldn't the Hong Kong people be fairly okay with it, recognizing the difference?

[sbp]

http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~preety/history/swastika.html
"design: an equilateral cross with arms bent at right angles, all in the same rotary direction, usually clockwise. The Hindu and Buddhist swastika goes in the opposite direction."

The left-hand swastika is called Swavastika/sauvastika (http://www.symbols.com/encyclopedia/15/155.html).

To paraphrase: Before the Nazi's corrupted its meaning, the swastika used to be a symbol of good luck in many cultures.
http://www.manwoman.net/swastika/swastika.html
http://www.luckymojo.com/swastika.html
http://www.intelinet.org/swastika/swastika_intro.htm

[whitak24]

in my high school, the study carrols in the library were reverse-swastikas.

we referred to them as the "study-swastikas". :heh:

of course, the librarians were nazis..... :hihi:

[sbp]

Now this website (http://www.niagara.com/~freedom/accniag/haken.htm) has an interesting question.

http://www.niagara.com/~freedom/accniag/hammer.gif

Is your reaction to this symbol the same?
If not, why not?

What i find interesting is that there is another symbol in wide spread use in Canada today that represents an ideology and system that has been responsible for the deaths of at least 10 times as many people as Nazism has. My question... Why is this other symbol not equally reviled and disgraced? Our local newspaper the St Catharines Standard recently carried a picture of a local youth wearing this other evil symbol of death, yet there was no hue and cry... no special interest groups were clamoring for an explanation as to why this picture was allowed in our local paper. Is there an underlying politcal bias in this country responsible for this curious discrepancy...I don't know... but one can suspcect

[psycho-]

That robot has swastika boobies.

[zenbooty]

Originally posted by sbp
Now this website (http://www.niagara.com/~freedom/accniag/haken.htm) has an interesting question.

http://www.niagara.com/~freedom/accniag/hammer.gif

Is your reaction to this symbol the same?
If not, why not?

What i find interesting is that there is another symbol in wide spread use in Canada today that represents an ideology and system that has been responsible for the deaths of at least 10 times as many people as Nazism has. My question... Why is this other symbol not equally reviled and disgraced? Because it was not the ideology that was responsible. It was the corrupted practitioners. Communism and Socialism were abstract ideas well before Stalin. Communist and Socialist ideology has had major impact on all cultures of the world, and much of it good. Better work conditions, women's rights, public healthcare, etc. all have taken root and/or inspiration from the "little guy comes first" philosophies of Marx and Engles.

Now, as far as Nazism goes, it can be identified with one man and one regime, period. The ideology can be blamed because the ideology itself elevates some human beings to a higher class, while relegating others to damnation. This was not just the practice, but the basis of the ideology.

[nickel]

if it looks like a swastika and smells like a swastika then it must be a swastika.