MTV's 'Think' Campaign Uses Nazi Imagery To Shock Teens:
The first, Subway Roundup, starts off on a NY underground car that buckles along shakily. The lights go out; the faces of riders are nervous, or disinterested; the car rocks side to side, apparently mimicking concentration camp railways. When the car stops, fierce officers gaze in, machine guns cocked. They lead the riders out in a single line fashion, sometimes pushing, forming an orderly line. The final image dissolves into Nazi Germany.
The second, Home Raid, uses the same motif. A family is at home, relaxing, until being brutishly handled by the same thug cops. They come in, guns drawn, and put them into an open truck, where they will be shipped off to ... dissolve: Hitlerian times. Both use minimal dialogue (gruff commands from cops, barely audible); I suspect the silence is meant to represent part shock/part Paxil sedentary. The victims never fight, allowing themselves to be escorted into what I guess to be a sort of penitentiary system or, worse, some futuristic concoction of oppression that the MTV marketing staff has dreamed up.
I don't get it. What's MTV's point here? Are they insinuating that at any moment in any given U.S. city, you could face the wrath of secret police? Are they guessing that we will soon be forced into concentration camps run by George Bush? Each video ends with the phrase 'the Holocaust happened to people like us' and the scenes fade to black. It's more than just a little bit offensive that they have used Nazi overtones to prove whatever bizarre point they are trying to make. To me, the message to teens here is 'be afraid, be very afraid.' Unless, of course, Obama wins. In that case, ignore these commercials and watch the next episode of The Hills.
43 comments:
I don't get it. What is the point of these commercials? Are they trying to get people to vote so that there isn't a second coming of the Holocaust? Sorry, MTV...you lost me.
I don't know... I'm not sure the fuss is justified. It doesn't appear as if they are trying to claim America is fascist, but trying to put people from modern times into the role of Jews during the Holocaust. In fact, couldn't this be seen as a way to combat the new way of anti-semitism running rampant throughout the extreme left?
I've said, any number of times before, that the next truly evil man to take over a country and threaten the rest of the world - would not come speaking hard truths about "work to be done" or "a fight we must win" or "a hard road ahead".
The next one will come with a smile, clean hands and saying EXACTLY what the masses want to hear.
What the history-cherry-pickers can be relied upon to neglect is that the German populace LOVED Hitler in the early years - the man was a rock-star, with people shouting and lifting their children into the air as he went by.
...and all because he told them what they wanted to hear - that he would 'lift them up' from their current situation - because he promised them a time of 'Hope' and a time of 'Change'.
Maybe MTV is more subtle than we realize - maybe someone there sees it, but has to keep the ads ambiguous enough to stay off the MoveOn.org radar.
- One can always hope so, anyway.
- MuscleDaddy
As if anybody watches MTV anymore... This has gotten way more attention from the NEWS than MTV could have hoped for!
The point they're trying to make points directly at the World Caliphate and the designs Islam has on dominance. Radical Islam is employing the same methods as the Nazis everywhere, intimidation, threats of violence, squashing dissent.
The U.S. is so far removed from the idiots who think this up. Service Members are in harms way so some bespectacled nonce can imagine such fiction. Scare tactics are used by a losing argument.
MTV SUCKS
you guys are ridiculously blind and ignorant if you don't think this applies. just keep pretending this makes no sense and go about your mundane lives you sheep. it's about the loss of rights and the sacrifice of freedom for "security". if you can't understand that simple concept being conveyed, then you need some serious help. this is NOT about the islamic terrorists. LOL. jesus. when did people become this stupid?
Apparently you people have been to an airport in the past several years. As a man, and I mean a man who takes care of my family and protects them, I am appalled at how I am treated like an animal by our government.
I don't need security, I can take care of myself. I want my freedoms back.
Hi;
I am a Texas artist and I am impressed with the spirit of the message and with the creative level. I also am wondering why the alert. Is there something we should know about? If so, then maybe you should tell us.
Is this the first in an ongoing campaign? (And I would encourage you to do that.) I do approve of your use of history and if this is aimed at a young MTV audience then keep it up. They need to have these alerts shown to them.
Gene Elder
San Antonio, Texas
born July 4th, 1949
Tell me what freedoms has anyone lost......
Honestly, I have no problem with the commercials.
What they are saying is that by the time things get that bad, you can't do anything about it.
So what if things aren't like this now? You have to speak out against the removal of freedoms in the name of security. Otherwise you'll wake up one day in a full blown police state.
These things don't happen overnight, and it's our lack of forethought that has placed us in this situation.
Deny it all you want. It's happening.
" Art, like the Alamo, has to draw the line somewhere."
--Gene Elder
Nobody can tell me what rights and freedoms you have lost... other than going through the airport, which by the way needs security.
Never takes the moonbats long to show up, does it?
Still waiting to hear the grievance list of the 'freedoms' you've allegedly lost...
(crickets)
(crickets)
(crickets)
Come on! Why use only USA style police? Why use only USA locations?
The message is that NAZI Style government could be right around the corner, if you don't do something about it.
The rest of the website/campaign is "Do something about genocide going on right now in the world." These spots are NOT keeping with that theme.
Look there has been too much Bush=Hitler crap going around for this to be ignored.
This is the most horrible use of NAZI/Holocaust imagery I have seen since PETA's.
In 1981 my Mother would take me to greet my Father at the gate to greet him as he returned from business trips. My brother and I use to make signs for him.
We are no longer allowed to wait anywhere near the gate. It is a freedom I miss. When courting my wife, I always wished I could surprise her at the gate when she returned.
In 1984 or so, my little brother stated to feel very sick, and wanted to get off the plane. My mother was able to take us off the plane before it left the gate.
Today this is forbidden. Think about it, once you step into an airport, you are property of the FAA, TSA and the airlines. Your freedoms have been stripped not only for "security", but to remove the need for customer service. They can treat you like garbage, and you have to take it. NY can give us some BS passenger bill of rights, but it hasn't changed the way the Airlines have abused the hyped up need for security to force us to accept bullying and a lack of customer service, or even customer respect.
See how you feel when you get stuck on a delayed stop on a tarmac for 10 hours somewhere. Maybe then you will notice that freedoms you never thought about are glaringly absent.
In the late 80's we still could walk loved ones directly to the gate. My mother would do this before she sent me alone on long flights to see my relatives. While I was old enough to fly alone. It made her feel better.
In the mid nineties, I use to be able to check in at the gate, and then walk outside for a smoke. Relax and calm myself before stuffing my 6'6 frame into a cramped space for one of my many cross country flights. Now, once you pass the checkpoint, you are not allowed to leave the holding area. Thank god they sell a small selection of outrageously priced junk food in the holding area.
After the 11th I could no longer bring my small art kit on the plane wit me. Somethign that I miss to pass the time. Now I can only bring pencils to sketch.
I have also lost a good amount of expensive art supplies removed from checked bags on the way to professional gigs. Simply because the screeners didn't want to take the time to read the ingredients on a 20 oz bottle of geso in a checked art bin. I now have to fed ex supplies ahead of time, or find an art store that carries the supplies I need at my destination.
Might not mean much to you, but I always enjoyed my freedoms. And have always been very astute to their erosion.
The government can't protect me, and has very little interest in doing so. But they do love to try to control me.
mtv's recent campaigns are mostly anti-apathy. and to me these commercials may be saying that something this extreme could happen when you don't care or blindly accept what your government is doing.
That's the best you can do? Complaining about increased security at the airport? Wow, I really feel like I live in a fascist country now.
If you want to complain about fascism in the US you may want to start with your impinged 2nd amendment rights. However, my guess is you're ok with that bit.
These "spots" are an obamanation! If anything like this came to pass in the U.S., it would come from the left (as the Nazis were - National Socialists). Obama's rock star like status mirrors that of his brother in conflict Adolf. Right now, he's doing anything to get into office. Meanwhile, on the Republican side we have old Hindenberg...
If Arab men between the ages of 18-28 were rounded up, detained and questioned by our facist government before before 9/11 there would have been no 9/11. we did not want to impinge on anyones rights, or hurt their feelings, even those who were in this country illegally. that's why they hassle you at the airport.
I expanded on earlier complaints about the Airport and it's erosion of freedoms at someone's request. I could do better as I have seen many freedoms you have taken for granted stripped from me without my approval, but have given this blog enough attention for one day.
As for my right to bear arms, I am equally saddened to see it weakened. As I feel I am the only person who can guarantee my and my family's safety, as the government is incompetent in it's every endeavor.
I agree with the poster named Kevin. I don't think these spots are a reflection of where they see the US going, just showing today's kids what it was like for Holocaust victims.
"If Arab men between the ages of 18-28 were rounded up, detained and questioned by our facist government before before 9/11 there would have been no 9/11. we did not want to impinge on anyones rights, or hurt their feelings, even those who were in this country illegally. that's why they hassle you at the airport."
Are you saying that i lost my rights because I did not support the removal of the rights of others.
I guess this discussion has more ties to the nazi's that you ever imagined.
Perhapse you should see where you fit into the 1976 poem First They Came... by Martin Niemöller
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
I can imagine the hundreds of people who died in the planes on 9/11 would give anything to have been inconvenienced at the airport. Give me a break. This is nothing but leftest propaganda!
I can imagine they would have rather had their right to bear arms instead.
The government can't protect you, they found out the hard way.
Advocating a small unintrusive government and gun rights is not leftist you brainwashed retard.
The Bush apologists always come out of the woodwork for these kinds of non-news stories! The MTV ads are obvious sledgehammer type tactics to try to get young people interested in politics. Its just overstatement for shock purposes...big deal, calm down. A much more egregious case was Bush/Cheney/Rice/neocons pushing the imminent "mushroom cloud" in the lies, hype, and cherrypicking of intelligence leading up to the Iraq invasion.As for saying the Nazis were comparable to the left wing because they were named socialist is disingenuous to say the least. "Socialist" has been used to name different ideologies throughout history. The Nazi/Hitler scapegoating of Jews is hardly a left-wing concept.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.
When they came for me,
I was in the rubble of the WTC;
They never bothered
To check out the Arab men
Between the ages of 18-28
Because it wasn't PC.
While not PC...there is no doubt in my mind that many people agree with that, Dave.
MTV has always been very left of center. If they are trying to compare the Holocaust to our attempts to thwart another terrorist attack here they need to take a trip to a good library (the Holocaust is well documented). Or they should have talked to my Uncle before he died a few years ago: one walk through Konzentrationslager Dachau at the end WWII was enough to make that combat veteran quit believing in God!
No one has been more “inconvenienced” by airport security than airline employees. As a 25yr commercial pilot for a major airline, I’ve been subjected to it all! But I have also had terrorist cells do “dry runs” or “probing actions” on my flights. At times it is very frustrating to know they are there but not be able to do anything about it, but that is the price we pay for our freedom. When high explosives can be manufactured in sheets as thin as paper, or packaged to look like a D-cell battery, or components of it transported in liquid form inside soft drink containers, or in a paste consistency inside a toothpaste tube, to be later mixed inside the “biffy” of a commercial jet, that security checkpoint will become a hassle to those who don’t concern themselves with such matters.
Inconvenience at the airport, or having your phone calls to Afghanistan monitored doesn’t begin to compare with what happened in Europe during that dark period. Get a grip…..
PC or not, it is the crux of the analogy that our government is using fears about a group of people, defined by their religion, to goad us into happily giving up our freedoms and civil liberties. To allow the government to spy on us and use laws meant for the "others" against us. It is what the Nazis did with the Jews. The happy germans woke up one day to a police state that assumed it's citizens were enemies of the state. Those that cheered on as new laws were passed were horrified to see those laws used against themselves. As the Nazi party completely politicized every aspect of German life, those that realized what had happened too late, were forced to be silent as a labor camp was waiting if they failed to continue to be good Germans.
Any American citizen can now be labeled an enemy combatant and can be denied legal advice, representation, and a trial to prove their innocence.
Habeas corpus, one our most important rights, has been taken from us, the good Americans. And you are blissfully ignorant of history if you do not think that it will be used against American Citizens for political reasons in the future, if it hasn 't already. Our justice Department is so politicized that it is inevitable.
What you fail to realize, is that the reign of the neo-cons will come to an end. And they have done well to weaken the constitution and it's protections in the name of security. What will the neo-liberals do when they get ahold of these news powers. What would Janet Reno have done with the powerful Patriot Act? How many more Ruby Ridges will we see in the future?
What will happen to you when the state changes ideologies, and you become the unwanted, the enemy?
I wish you guys would stop posting as "Anonymous".
- I'd debate points if I had any idea which set of 'anonymous' posters I would be addressing.
- MuscleDaddy
Yes, I agree. If you aren't going to identify yourself, then why should I respond to any of this.
Gene Elder
Historically speaking, the Bush administration is the first one to fight a major war without excessive crackdowns on liberty. Yes, any liberty lost is too much, but let's look at American presidents during the major wars of the past.
Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, had thousands of American civilians tried under military law, put states under military government, and suspended rights of assembly.
Wilson created the first modern propaganda ministry, drafted thousands of goons to crackdown on dissent, demanded loyalty oaths, and threw thousands in jail on sedition charges.
FDR interned thousands of Americans because of their ethnicity, attempted to pack the Supreme Court, took on sweeping federal powers, and held office longer then any other President.
JFK/LBJ and Nixon ordered domestic surveillance, kept blacklists, and cracked down on peaceful protests.
So far under the Bush administration one American citizen has been denied habeas corpus (although he has now been arraigned in federal court), and three foreign nationals have been subjected to a moderate level of "torture" in the form of waterboarding. Every American aviator goes through waterboarding as part of their military training. Though unpleasant, it is a far cry from the rack or a hot irons. Or, for that matter, the acid baths and industrial paper shredders preferred in Baathist Iraq. Hundreds of other foreign, captured on the field of battle in the course of fighting against American soldiers have been interned in a prison camp which will go down in history as the most benevolent in the entire record of armed conflict. Gitmo is no Andersonville, nor is it a gulag, a Dachau or even a Stalag 17.
All that being said: Liberty is the most expensive commodity on Earth. It has been, is, and will always be paid for in human blood. We must ensure that even as our young men and women die so that others may live free we do not toss away our own freedom. People like to talk about liberty as a birthright. Nothing can be more dangerous. Liberty must be renewed with each generation, the tree refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
I do not condemn these videos. The second one in particular brings to mind not the Waffen SS but the ATF and FBI storming into my home because I have the temerity to exercise my Second Amendment rights. It can happen here, in fact it has happened here. We've always bounced back, but it is important to remember that only constant vigilance and the willingness to fight for freedom keeps us free.
Speech from the likes of MTV and DailyKos serves a useful purpose. Government seeks to expand itself, that's just what it does. If the constant flinging of feces from the monkey cages of the far Left keeps the government from chipping away at more of my liberty then I welcome it. You really can't ever criticize the government enough.
Join the MUD Underground.
"Artists hell bent on taking over the world."
The MUD underground originated in 1976 on the San Antonio River by a group of artists gathered in secret in the abandoned Borglum Studio. (The historic studio of Gutzon Borglum for 13 years and where Gutzon created the model for Mount Rushmore.) The MUD Underground is now a national movement. And with George Bush as President I suggest you join the MUD Underground too
The MUD Underground: Where the demarcation lines between politics, religion, espionage, high finance, nudity, and ART begin to dissolve.
Gene Elder
you guys are ridiculously blind and ignorant if you don't think this applies. just keep pretending this makes no sense and go about your mundane lives, you sheep. it's about the loss of rights and the sacrifice of freedom for "security" under Islam. if you can't understand that simple concept being conveyed, then you need some serious help. this is ALL about the islamic terrorists. LOL. jesus. when did We, the people, become this willfully stupid?
"Holocaust happened to people like us", get it? We're ALL Jews and Baha'is now! Muslims think THEY are God's Chosen People UNLESS and UNTIL the Coming of al-Qaim and al-Mahdi, Who Came May 23, 1844 and were here until 1892...
But Muslims have been systematically DENIED access to this knowledge, so MTV wants us to wake up! Investigate Baha'u'llah!
I expanded on earlier complaints about the Airport and it's erosion of freedoms at someone's request.
I have news flash for you rocket scientist:
It has never been, nor will it ever be a "right" of an American citizen to impose his desires on another citizen's property.
What you miss isn't rights, it's privileges. You see, those of us who don't think like little Marxists realize that the Airport is a private business, and thus can conduct business as they see fit. It always was and always will be a constitutional fact. And since quantum physicists like you made it impossible for a private company to refuse service to deadly Mooslims with your unconstitutional laws, removing the privileges of the 99.9999997% people who don't worship a blood god is the only option left.
Furthermore, you have every right in the world to:
1) Bitch and moan like the woman you are.
2) Start your own stupid airline and run it how you like. (Enjoy the explosions and crashings.)
3) Move to a Mooslim country and enjoy your many unsecured airport "rights" there.
Idiot.
1. I used the words freedoms. You said Rights and Privileges.
2. An Airport is not a private business, it is a federal building and must follow all federal regulations.
3. They can not conduct business as they see fit. They are bound by the FAA. Otherwise there would be private airlines that would have varying policies of which you could choose. Perhaps an airline that allowed it's passengers to carry their own protection. Or employed security on each flight.
The federal government prevented airlines from arming their crews. And ultimately removed the responsibility for setting policy out of the private business's hands, and into a bureaucratic political motivated hypocritical system.
4. Please explain your constitutional fact. I can't wait to read it.
5. I still can't believe you idiots keep calling me a Marxist and a Liberal. Do you even know what they believe, or do you just assume that anyone who doesn't sound like a raging bigot must be pink.
There is no terrorist threat. Only the threat of our government.
We need to love Al Qaeda and then everything will be OK.
PaleoConservatives, NeoNazis, Liberals, Islamists, Communists and Anarchists can all rot in their sick conspiracy theories...
This is the most offensive and insulting thing I have ever seen. As a Jew and as a human I think that all these commercials should be deleted and disposed of. The terror that happened in the holocaust will never happen again. It never can and never will. I feel if they wish to get their ideas out then they can b/c they have that freedom but to use the most horrifying part of human history to "scare" us is the most despicable thing I, or anyone living in this time, has ever seen. It is distasteful, disgusting, hateful, disrespectful and mostly just stupid to use this as ur idea of “good” advertisment. I hope to NEVER see this type of stuff again from them.
Dear Sim:
Obviously you are not too smart.
I am a gay man and I see this level of ignorance happening all around me. And even though the Jewish community refused to admit that the German gay community was hauled off before they come for the Jews, they continue to refer to the Holocaust as only a Jewish experience. They arrested the artists first. The artists were arrested at the very beginning. Then they arrested the gay men and then they were after the Jews.
The Holocaust affected the entire world. NOT just the Jews.
Gene Elder
The Holocaust happened to the JEWS b/c they were Jews (i.e., not considered "people like us") by the Germans and their antisemitic allies in Europe (because they were racists)
Anyone who suggest otherwise (or support these MTV ads, for that matter)is a Holocaust denier and should be treated as such.
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