The clothing company peek& cloppenburg has a special surprise in store for the advertised for fashion. The slogan had been distributed in an advertising brochure over the whitsun weekend in the vicinity of more than 20 branches nationwide, as the company, which is headquartered in hamburg, confirmed to the evangelischer pressienst on wednesday. The printed edition was around one million copies. The saying "to each his own" stood at the entrance of the nazi concentration camp buchenwald and had been addressed to the camp inmates as a cynical message. The number of fatalities in the concentration camp is estimated at around 56.000 estimated.
There are two legally and economically independent companies in germany peek& cloppenburg with its headquarters in dusseldorf and hamburg. Affected by the incident was the peek& cloppenburg KG in hamburg.
Spokesman of the fashion house comments on the incident
As a company spokeswoman further explained, the latin quotation "suum cuique – to each his own" is still valid today originating from ancient greece. Already the philosopher platon commented the saying in the form that "everyone should get his own and that no one should be deprived of his own". That's why, for example, the phrase is still found today "as a fixed component in german court buildings and the formulas of justice written down there," according to a company spokeswoman.
At the same time, the company regretted its actions. With regard to the misuse of the saying by the national socialists, the spokeswoman spoke of a "verbal clumsiness" . Peek& cloppenburg could "of course understand" critical reviews. The company apologized for hurting the feelings of others. "But this was in no way our intention", hit it. The slogan was used to advertise peek& cloppenburg in the advertising brochure for the purchase of ties and flies.
Politicians criticize this ad
The left-wing parliamentary group in the saxon state parliament criticized the advertising of peek& cloppenburg in the sharpest. She was "absolutely tasteless and oblivious to history", left-wing politician andre schollbach declared. He has "no understanding whatsoever that such a well-known and cynical nazi slogan is being used for advertising purposes", emphasized schollbach.
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