New Trends In Chinese Car Design: Swastikas
Chinacartimes, the website that monitors the Chinese car market, put its finger on a disturbing new trend in China: Cars adorned with Nazi paraphernalia.“Some Chinese like to dress up in period military costumes and stick WW2 era German military insignia all over their motors,” reports Ash Sutcliffe, the owner/operator of the site.
There is a burgeoning market in China for these odd accessories, if Taobao, China’s take on eBay, is an indicator. On Taobao, Sutcliffe found “quite a selection of Nazi era automotive stickers ranging from Imperial Eagles to straight up Swastikas and everything else in between.”
While some of these stickers could get you in jail in Germany, China is known for its unburdened handling of Third Reich symbolism. One of the most famous examples is China’s logo for China’s top brands, which reminds some of the insignia of Nazi-Germany’s infamous Schutzstaffel. Let’s just say that Chinese products carrying that logo might have problems finding buyers both in Germany and Queens. The Chinese administrators resisted urges to change the SS symbol. This year, it will be phased out, but not because of possible Aryan associations: After the milk powder scandal, no new “China Top Brands” were selected.
It’s an issue all over Asia. When I familiarized myself with the neighborhood of our second home in Japan, I was shocked to see on the map that I was surrounded by Nazi sympathizers. Some of the toniest Tokyo real estate sported swastikas. They pointed in the wrong direction, but what do they know. Much to my relief, I was told that it is an ancient map symbol for a Buddhist temple. Wenn das der Führer wüsste!
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Strange I was thinking about this this morning because of that Hitler store. Nazi iconography is attractive. It's made that way on purpose to appeal. Hitler and his cronies were not stupid. All of their images are bold, with strong primary colours, straight lines, rigid borders and easily reproduced. And if they didn't create it, they appropriated it. As long as you're ignorant of its representations, it's gorgeous.
Really, the author was "shocked", I hope that this Oprah like faux naivety doesn't continue. Who cares. shocked. Every idiot knows that the reich lifted it from Tibetan culture. The Nazi party look and the their symbols created the most enduring brand of all time, why would it "shock" you that people like it? Most of the dumb asses here watch things like execution videos, porn, jackass type stuff- you are an on line "journalist" if anything it "shocks" me that you pretend not to know about stuff like this. Step your writing game up- banish the words cheers, shocked, stunning from your writing and maybe you can get a paid job. Also read a book or two, expand your brain.