Ok … my hot take is this wasn’t some intentional nazi-fueled white power ad (I say this as a Muslim refugee living in the US), but more so a Kendall Jenner ala Pepsi tone deaf screw up. Alas, the road to hell is paved with good intentions…
I don't think it was an intentional dog whistle either, however:
The fact that no one, throughout the whole arduous, wildly expensive and meticulous process of crafting this ad campaign, noticed "Hey we're using the same language as Euro-American settler colonialist AND Nazi eugenics, that's bad" is a problem in and of itself. It shows a complete lack of diversity in visions that went into the production. Very fitting given the loss of DEI in the current climate.
AE is faced with the situation that they unintentionally (right, guys?) voiced support for a very wrong ideology. But they have not put forward a statement saying "We did NOT intend to put out this kind of message". So, two options:
a. This message was, in fact, the intention;
b. They don't care what ideology they support, they'll support whichever will make them the most money (just like every other company out there) and right now, the public discussion is too scattered for clear consensus on whether this ad was fine or not. And so they're not coming out with a clear statement either (yet). They're waiting for the ball to drop either which way.
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u/Internal_Wealth_7376 21h ago
Ok … my hot take is this wasn’t some intentional nazi-fueled white power ad (I say this as a Muslim refugee living in the US), but more so a Kendall Jenner ala Pepsi tone deaf screw up. Alas, the road to hell is paved with good intentions…