On NYC subway, political ad ban can’t stop Nazi symbol takeover
MBTA leaders voted on Monday to ban political ads. Just like New York—which currently has a train outfitted with Nazi symbolism.
When the MBTA sought to limit controversy by banning political issue advertisements this week, it pointed to the ad policy enacted this spring on New York City public transit.
Which is ironic, because on the same day the T’s board voted on the new rules, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority found itself defending an ad campaign that evokes symbolism of Nazis and Imperial Japan.
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The campaign promotes an Amazon streaming program that imagines the world if the Axis powers had won World War II.
“The updated [advertising] standards prohibit political advertisements. Unless you’re saying that you believe Amazon is advocating for a Nazi takeover of the United States, then it meets the standards. They’re advertising a show,’’ MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg told The Gothamist.
The T’s new policy is very similar to New York’s in defining political messaging, as both ban ads that advocate “an opinion, position or viewpoint’’ about “economic, political, moral, religious, or social issues.’’ Both policies also use almost identical language in banning any ad that “demeans or disparages an individual or group of individuals,’’ which apparently was not triggered by the Amazon ad in New York.
The MBTA did not respond to a question about whether its new ad policy would allow for a train to be decked with Nazi symbolism if used for entertainment purposes.
The T moved to ban political messaging amid a firestorm over an ad from the Palestine Advocacy Project blaming Israel’s military for the death of Palestinian children. Some Israel advocates called the ad anti-semitic.
The MBTA’s new ad policy goes into effect on Dec. 1.
What Boston public transit used to look like:
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