Hitler teapot
{{Short description|Kettle perceived to resemble Adolf Hitler}}
{{use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
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|image2=Nürnberg Reichsparteitag Hitler retouched (teapot-cropped).jpg|alt2=Adolf Hitler making a Nazi salute|caption2=Adolf Hitler
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The Michael Graves Design Bells and Whistles Stainless Steel Tea Kettle, colloquially known as the Hitler teapot,{{Cite web |url=http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/for-the-home/shop-brands/view-all-brands/michael-graves-design/shop-categories/view-all/michael-graves-design-bells-and-whistles-stainless-steel-tea-kettle-/prod.jump?ppId=pp5001930588 |title=Michael Graves Design Bells and Whistles Stainless Steel Tea Kettle |website=JCPenney |access-date=2013-06-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607042324/http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/for-the-home/shop-brands/view-all-brands/michael-graves-design/shop-categories/view-all/michael-graves-design-bells-and-whistles-stainless-steel-tea-kettle-/prod.jump?ppId=pp5001930588 |archive-date=2013-06-07 }} was a stainless-steel kettle sold in 2013 by the American retailer and department store chain JCPenney.{{Cite magazine |last=Sanburn |first=Josh |date=2013-05-29 |title=JCPenney's 'Hitler' Teakettle Sells Out Online |magazine=Time |url=https://business.time.com/2013/05/29/jcpenneys-hitler-tea-kettle-sells-out-online/ |access-date=2022-04-05 |issn=0040-781X |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212232556/https://business.time.com/2013/05/29/jcpenneys-hitler-tea-kettle-sells-out-online/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Kumar |first=Sashi |date=2014-01-21 |title=Tea-selling Narendra Modi |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/teaselling-narendra-modi/article5597925.ece |access-date=2022-04-05 |issn=0971-751X |archive-date=March 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329141356/https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/teaselling-narendra-modi/article5597925.ece |url-status=live }} It attracted attention on social media due to its perceived resemblance to the Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler.{{Cite news |last=Rogers |first=Katie |date=2013-05-29 |title=JC Penney's 'Hitler' tea kettle sells out but finds a new home on eBay |language=en |work=The Guardian |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-news-blog/2013/may/29/jc-penney-hitler-tea-kettle |access-date=2022-03-24 |archive-date=March 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324073717/https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-news-blog/2013/may/29/jc-penney-hitler-tea-kettle |url-status=live }}{{Cite magazine |last=Kluger |first=Jeffrey |date=2015-08-03 |title=Why Your Brain Thinks This Picture Shows a Giant, Martian Crab Monster |language=en |magazine=Time |url=https://time.com/3982146/mars-crab-monster |access-date=2022-04-05 |archive-date=March 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220329135934/https://time.com/3982146/mars-crab-monster/ |url-status=live }}
Background
The kettle was part of a collection of products designed by the American architect and designer Michael Graves for JCPenney. It first attracted attention in May 2013 when a photograph of a billboard advertising the product on Interstate 405 in Culver City, California, was posted online. Internet users, especially of the social news aggregator Reddit, noted the kettle's perceived resemblance to Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. The kettle's design incorporated a black handle and lid top that many users interpreted to look like Hitler's parted hairstyle and toothbrush moustache, as well as a spout that was thought to resemble a right arm raised in a Nazi salute. In a poll of KPCC listeners, roughly 31 percent thought it resembled the dictator, while roughly 25 percent thought it did not.
Response
Due to the media attention, JCPenney removed the billboard that sparked the initial heightened interest in the product,{{Cite news |last=Chappell |first=Bill |date=2013-05-29 |title=Tempest Over A Teapot: JC Penney Removes 'Hitler' Billboard |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/05/29/187054424/tempest-over-a-teapot-jc-penney-removes-hitler-billboard |access-date=2022-03-24 |archive-date=March 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324073745/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/05/29/187054424/tempest-over-a-teapot-jc-penney-removes-hitler-billboard |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Rob |date=2013-05-31 |title=Kettle that looks like Adolf Hitler selling for up to $199 on eBay |language=en |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/kettle-that-looks-like-adolf-hitler-selling-for-up-to-199-on-ebay-after-selling-out-in-stores-8640107.html |access-date=2022-03-24 |archive-date=March 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324073717/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/kettle-that-looks-like-adolf-hitler-selling-for-up-to-199-on-ebay-after-selling-out-in-stores-8640107.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Osterholm |first=Jay |date=June 6, 2013 |title=J.C. Penney Hitler Scandal to Abercrombie & Fitch's Fat Feud: How Viral Content & Social Sharing Don't Do a Company Good |url=http://odmgrp.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Viral-Marketing-blog.pdf |website=ODM Group |access-date=April 5, 2022 |archive-date=April 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424070807/http://odmgrp.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Viral-Marketing-blog.pdf |url-status=live }} and said that any resemblance of the kettle to Hitler was unintentional, stating in a tweet: "If we'd designed the kettle to look like something, we would've gone [with a] snowman".{{Cite tweet |author=JCPenney |user=jcpenney |number=339442071880474624 |date=May 28, 2013 |title=@mashable Totally unintentional. If we'd designed the kettle to look like something, we would've gone w/a snowman :) |access-date=28 April 2022}} The Hitler teapot has been cited as an example of pareidolia, a phenomenon in which individuals perceive meaningful images or patterns in otherwise random formations. Writing in Haaretz, Gavriel Rosenfeld characterized the popularity of the Hitler teapot as being part of a wider phenomenon of "Hitlerization" and Hitler memes.{{Cite news |last=Rosenfeld |first=Gavriel |date=June 28, 2013 |title=How We Got Hitler-ized: What the Ubiquity of the Fuhrer Says About Our Culture |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/how-we-got-hitler-ized-1.5288272 |access-date=April 30, 2022}}
Due to its notoriety, the kettle sold out at JCPenney's stores, with some later reappearing on eBay, priced as high as $199, much higher than the original retail price of $40.