Taiwan 7-11 stores selling Hitler lookalike trinkets

Several 7-Eleven stores in Taiwan are currently stocking key rings and magnets that bear a strikingly similar resemblance to Hitler. The cartoon figure features a short black moustache, a brown jacket, and a red-black-and-white symbol resembling the Nazi’s swastika banners.

On Monday, a representative of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei spoke out against this grave injustice:

“I find it tragic that once again people in marketing and promotion fail to recognize the meaning of the dark age in human history the Nazi dictator represents,” said the rep.

The cartoon figure was designed by blogger, Mark Lee. He claims that he had no intention of promoting Nazi thinking when creating the image.

"I had hoped to use it to satirize some bosses. In the eyes of disgruntled employees, many bosses are greedy and dictatorial and like vampires trying to suck money from them," Lee said.

President Chain Store Corporation, the company that runs 7-Eleven in Taiwan, also denies that the images are meant to represent Hitler or Nazism.

"They don't look like Hitler. It's not a moustache, but a tooth," said an official from the corporation, while referring to a black square in the middle of the figure's face.

Although all parties involved seem to have an explanation for the character, it seems that no one is willing to own responsibility for the negative reaction their product has caused.

An official at the German Institute Taipei, Germany's de facto embassy in Taiwan, expressed "regret that Nazi images are mistakenly used on some improper occasions".

This debacle is yet another example of the strange fascination East Asian pop culture has with Hitler and the Nazis. Hitler still appears in the odd Asian ad campaign, and just a few months ago, three students in Taipei arrived at a military-organized summer camp wearing Nazi uniforms.

It has not yet been reported if all products containing this Hitler-esque character will be removed from shelves.