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For the beginning years of the war the US was technically neutral. It would have been seen as an act of war for the government to stop its citizens from tradin

For the beginning years of the war the US was technically neutral. It would have been seen as an act of war for the government to stop its citizens from trading with the Germans.

52-6F-62 9y ago
We weren't talking about the government, though. We were talking about a company deciding to act with less ambiguity toward certain political groups/forces— like the example with Google above. For example, it might have been considered better taste after the issuance of the Nuremberg Laws for Coca Cola not to associate so closely with the German Reich and fly their banners next to the swastika at the Berlin games, but that certainly was not the play until they were forced to stop (which ultimately resulted in the invention of Fanta, but I digress). --- An additional sampling of a company just being apolitical in questionable taste. >> Mark Prendergrast "In March of 1938, as Hitler's troops stormed across the Austrian border in the Anschluss, Max Keith convened the ninth annual concessionaire convention, with 1,500 people in attendance. Behind the main table, a huge banner proclaimed in German, "Coca -Cola is the world-famous trademark for the unique product of Coca-Cola GmbH" Directly below, three gigantic swastikas stood out, black on red. At the main table, Max Keith sat surrounded by his deputies, another swastika draped in front of him...The meeting closed with a "ceremonial pledge to Coca-Cola and a ringing three-fold "Seig Heil" to Hitler." At another convention Mark Prendergrast notes "Then Keith ordered a mass Sieg-Heil for Hitler's recent fiftieth birthday, to commemorate our deepest admiration and gratitude for our Fuhrer who has led our nation into a brilliant higher sphere."... At the Reich "Schaffendes Volk" ("Working People") Exhibition celebrating the German worker under Hitler, Prendergrast describes "A functioning bottling plant, with a miniature train carting Kinder beneath, bottled Coca-Cola at the very centre of the fair, adjacent to the Propaganda Office. Touring the Dusseldorf fair, Hermann Goering paused for a Coke, and an alert Company photographer snapped a picture. Though no such picture documented the Fuhrer's tastes, Hitler reputedly enjoyed Coca Cola too, sipping the Atlanta drink as he watched Gone With The Wind in his private theatre." https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203586.For_God_Country_Coca_Cola https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203586.For_God_Country_C...
- slededit 9y ago
  The dirty truth is that a lot of Americans sympathized with Hitler at the beginning of the war. This was a major reason for the US's initial neutrality. The universal hatred of Nazism came only after the war concluded. Further a lot of major American companies were hedging their bets in case the US remained neutral - in which case Germany would have been a major power. The situation is similar to Apple and Google appeasing Chinese censorship today (albeit without the death camps).

For the beginning years of the war the US was technically neutral. It would have been seen as an act of war for the government to stop its citizens from trading with the Germans.

52-6F-62 9y ago

We weren't talking about the government, though. We were talking about a company deciding to act with less ambiguity toward certain political groups/forces— like the example with Google above. For example, it might have been considered better taste after the issuance of the Nuremberg Laws for Coca Cola not to associate so closely with the German Reich and fly their banners next to the swastika at the Berlin games, but that certainly was not the play until they were forced to stop (which ultimately resulted in the invention of Fanta, but I digress). --- An additional sampling of a company just being apolitical in questionable taste. >> Mark Prendergrast "In March of 1938, as Hitler's troops stormed across the Austrian border in the Anschluss, Max Keith convened the ninth annual concessionaire convention, with 1,500 people in attendance. Behind the main table, a huge banner proclaimed in German, "Coca -Cola is the world-famous trademark for the unique product of Coca-Cola GmbH" Directly below, three gigantic swastikas stood out, black on red. At the main table, Max Keith sat surrounded by his deputies, another swastika draped in front of him...The meeting closed with a "ceremonial pledge to Coca-Cola and a ringing three-fold "Seig Heil" to Hitler." At another convention Mark Prendergrast notes "Then Keith ordered a mass Sieg-Heil for Hitler's recent fiftieth birthday, to commemorate our deepest admiration and gratitude for our Fuhrer who has led our nation into a brilliant higher sphere."... At the Reich "Schaffendes Volk" ("Working People") Exhibition celebrating the German worker under Hitler, Prendergrast describes "A functioning bottling plant, with a miniature train carting Kinder beneath, bottled Coca-Cola at the very centre of the fair, adjacent to the Propaganda Office. Touring the Dusseldorf fair, Hermann Goering paused for a Coke, and an alert Company photographer snapped a picture. Though no such picture documented the Fuhrer's tastes, Hitler reputedly enjoyed Coca Cola too, sipping the Atlanta drink as he watched Gone With The Wind in his private theatre." https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203586.For_God_Country_Coca_Cola https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203586.For_God_Country_C...

slededit 9y ago
The dirty truth is that a lot of Americans sympathized with Hitler at the beginning of the war. This was a major reason for the US's initial neutrality. The universal hatred of Nazism came only after the war concluded. Further a lot of major American companies were hedging their bets in case the US remained neutral - in which case Germany would have been a major power. The situation is similar to Apple and Google appeasing Chinese censorship today (albeit without the death camps).