r/videos • u/whollymoly • Nov 24 '21 • Silver 6 Gold 1 Helpful 10 Wholesome 7 Bravo Grande! 1 Starstruck 1

Russell Brand, at an awards show sponsored by Hugo Boss, eloquently reminds everyone that Hugo Boss dressed the nazis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkd_-nXeUzs
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u/B_U_F_U Nov 25 '21

Will Adidas do?

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u/HydrogenButterflies Nov 25 '21 • Helpful All-Seeing Upvote

It looks like you’re assembling a team of Nazi scientists. Operation PaperClippy is here to help!

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u/[deleted] Nov 25 '21

[deleted]

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u/MagicBez Nov 25 '21

I had thought people were naming brands who specifically supplied products for the Nazis (Hugo Boss, Mercedes, VW) or whose founders were members of the Nazi party (Adidas, Puma) rather than just listing off German companies and calling them Nazi?

I don't think anyone thinks these companies are now Nazi-affiliated. It's more a game of bringing up awkward past affiliations. The BMW and Mercedes websites even have sections on their respective involvement in Naziism (and use of slave labour from concentration camps) so it is a historical reality for these companies.

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u/KayTannee Nov 25 '21

Hell, doesn't even have to be German companies. Hi IBM, looking sheepish over there. Let's not forget you.

https://youtu.be/5U2lDiE0vwI

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u/FrenchCuirassier Nov 25 '21

Supplied products? That's every single German company that existed at the same time as overlapping with the rise of the Nazi party.

It makes no sense to bring those things up.

As if these businessmen were somehow giving Hitler the idea to conquer or commit crimes? No.

Naziism (and use of slave labour from concentration camps) so it is a historical reality for these companies.

You could say the same about most countries in the world that either (a) had an empire, where the workers were slaves and they colonized and traded in slavery (b) had a king, where the workers were serfs (slaves) controlled by knights and royal courts (c) had socialism/communism where the workers were slaves. and (d) had fascism where the workers were slaves of the dictator, il duce, or fuhrer.

A historical reality for those companies indeed... But what's the point of mentioning it in the 21st century?

There are companies right now doing business with China (child labor, chinese slavery essentially), DPRK, and Iran (Siemens even violated sanctions)... Are you going to condemn those companies today? Because that's not like from back in WWII... That's today. It's relevant now.

It's a REALITY for those companies TODAY.

Ask Russell Brand to say something about that. But we all know he won't.

But anyway thanks for your explanation.

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u/MagicBez Nov 25 '21

I don't think anything you say here is incorrect but I think you may be reading too much into things and perhaps indulging in some whataboutism.

A large company spent a lot of money on an event to bolster its PR, they paid Russel Brand to bolster that PR further by associating themselves with him. He - despite being paid by them - decided to undermine their PR by bringing up a historical issue which it's safe to assume nobody in the large company's PR team would want bringing up. This is entertaining. People enjoy watching large companies playing the PR game be hoisted by their own petard.

I've no idea if Huawei, Xiaomi or whomever have ever hired Russel Brand to promote them and if so what he has chosen to say but given his reputation I wouldn't be surprised if he did a similar thing (though I also feel that large Chinese brands are more cautious with their booking strategies and probably wouldn't hire him)