Sony has apologized for Japanese boy band Kishidan’s attire in a recent TV appearance. The BBC reports:
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organisation based in Los Angeles, said it was shocked and dismayed by the broadcast. The band, Kishidan, wore the uniforms – complete with iron crosses and red armbands – for an interview on MTV. Sony Music Artists said there was no ideological meaning to the outfits.
The band usually goes for a sort of Sanrio-tastic “Hello Bismarck” uniformed get up; it’s easy to see how they might have wandered across this particular fault line in European military iconography without noticing the shitstorm waiting on the other side.
Apology [Sony Music Artists of Japan]
Sony apology over Japan boy band Kishidan’s Nazi gaffe [BBC]