NEW YORK, November 24 (Sputnik) — The campaign consists of entire subway cars wrapped in vinyl containing Nazi insignia and the flag of Imperial Japan.
42nd St shuttle to #TimesSquare covered in Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan symbols for @amazon ad. Is this ok? pic.twitter.com/ysJ3m0UIPT
— Katherine Lam (@byKatherineLam) 23 ноября 2015
"We have no grounds to reject an ad that does not violate our standards," Lisberg said.
an entire train of nazi imagery: totally chill with @MTA pic.twitter.com/gdvaoGbFZe
— Marisa Kabas (@MarisaKabas) 23 ноября 2015
Lisberg noted that MTA policy prohibits political advertisements, but this particular campaign does not promote a political message, but rather a World War II-era television show.
"We reviewed it and determined it did not violate out content-neutral standards," Lisberg explained.
Despite the advertisements passing the MTA’s vetting process, civil-rights groups have denounced the campaign as exploiting imagery that are sensitive to very many people.
"On the train, seeing the American flag paired with a Nazi symbol is viscerally offensive, because there is no context as to what it means. The fact that the flag is spread across the seats only compounds the effect,"Anti-Defamation League New York Regional Director Evan Bernstein told Sputnik.
"We’re just saying that it has a level of insensitivity. We would hope that the people who distributed it will think twice about putting these symbols on more public transportation," he added.
The advertisements went up on November 15 and will adorn select subway cars for a 30-day-period.
