ROME (JTA) — A billboard ad for a Sicilian boutique showing Adolf Hitler in a pink Nazi cap and uniform has sparked protests.
In an open letter to the mayor of Palermo, the association of anti-fascist resistance fighters in Sicily called for the ad’s removal, saying it "offends those who fought to defeat Nazi-Fascism" and violates democratic and constitutional principles.
Left-wing city councilors made a similar protest.
The ad for the jeans company New Form shows the pink-clad Hitler, standing with his hands clasped in front of him, with a heart on his armband instead of a swastika.
"Change style," the slogan says in Italian, followed by the English words, "don’t follow your leader."
The agency that devised the ad told reporters that it was clearly supposed to be provocative and did not in any way represent an apology for Nazism.
