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| JC Penney's 'Hitler' tea kettle sells out but finds a new home on eBay | JC Penney's 'Hitler' tea kettle sells out but finds a new home on eBay |
| (5 days later) | |
| When Reddit users pointed out that a JC Penney billboard featured a tea kettle that resembled Adolf Hitler, the thought was that trouble was again brewing for the oft-bumbling retail giant. | When Reddit users pointed out that a JC Penney billboard featured a tea kettle that resembled Adolf Hitler, the thought was that trouble was again brewing for the oft-bumbling retail giant. |
| "Came here to say that I saw Hitler before I saw the kettle," wrote one Redditor. | "Came here to say that I saw Hitler before I saw the kettle," wrote one Redditor. |
| "The Hitler looks like a kettle," wrote another. | "The Hitler looks like a kettle," wrote another. |
| But the $40 kettle has sold out on JCPenney's website. And now, with a social-media adjusted price point, the kettle is selling for $199 or best offer on eBay. | But the $40 kettle has sold out on JCPenney's website. And now, with a social-media adjusted price point, the kettle is selling for $199 or best offer on eBay. |
| The booming kettle trade appears to have calmed the keepers of JC Penney's Twitter feed, who last night were hurriedly answering accusations with tweets like: "If we had designed the teapot to look like something, we would have gone with a bunny tea kettle :)". | The booming kettle trade appears to have calmed the keepers of JC Penney's Twitter feed, who last night were hurriedly answering accusations with tweets like: "If we had designed the teapot to look like something, we would have gone with a bunny tea kettle :)". |
| JC Penney takes heat frequently on social media, no matter the marketing ploy. Some moves were objectively boneheaded, like the 'I'm too pretty to do homework' T-shirt. Others were debated by liberal and conservative Americans, all with access to Twitter and Facebook – moves like hiring Ellen DeGeneres as a spokesperson or featuring a gay couple in an ad, for example. | JC Penney takes heat frequently on social media, no matter the marketing ploy. Some moves were objectively boneheaded, like the 'I'm too pretty to do homework' T-shirt. Others were debated by liberal and conservative Americans, all with access to Twitter and Facebook – moves like hiring Ellen DeGeneres as a spokesperson or featuring a gay couple in an ad, for example. |
| And so today, the company is tweeting about what is surely the least-offensive product ever to hit their inventory: | And so today, the company is tweeting about what is surely the least-offensive product ever to hit their inventory: |
| In the case of the kettle designer, Michael Graves Design Group, the Guardian has asked for comment. But we do know the company excitedly shared news of the billboard on its Facebook page back in May: | In the case of the kettle designer, Michael Graves Design Group, the Guardian has asked for comment. But we do know the company excitedly shared news of the billboard on its Facebook page back in May: |
| You won't be able to stop yourself from whistling at us when you see this billboard off the 405 Freeway in LA!!! If you find it safely shoot us a pic if you can. | You won't be able to stop yourself from whistling at us when you see this billboard off the 405 Freeway in LA!!! If you find it safely shoot us a pic if you can. |
| Based on the regular price point for tea kettles, Graves' other kettles sell for upwards of $100, and don't appear to resemble fascist dictators – although these two look a little too rigidly enthusiastic for our taste. His lower-priced line of related products for JC Penney are nothing if not jolly pacifists. And while enterprising e-peddlers haven't yet found any Nazi sympathizers in Grave's product line, they've already created their own – "Mein Kettle" tea mugs for $13.19, to be specific. | Based on the regular price point for tea kettles, Graves' other kettles sell for upwards of $100, and don't appear to resemble fascist dictators – although these two look a little too rigidly enthusiastic for our taste. His lower-priced line of related products for JC Penney are nothing if not jolly pacifists. And while enterprising e-peddlers haven't yet found any Nazi sympathizers in Grave's product line, they've already created their own – "Mein Kettle" tea mugs for $13.19, to be specific. |
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