2008-09-29

The Games History Plays

A while back, Allianz found out how history can be a little difficult to forget. Here's how the NY Daily News put it:

"The developer of the new Jets and Giants stadium broke off naming rights talks with the Nazi-linked insurance company after a groundswell of outrage."

Ok. Being connected to the Nazi's is kinda something you want to keep quiet but how long should the past follow someone - or in this case a company?

We often hear, "Oh honey, that's in the past!" or "can't we leave all this in the past?" as a way of socially progressing. Should it not be the same in business?

The past didn't seem to catch up with French collaborators like Coco Chanel, Peugeot and Michelin. Chanel slept with Nazi's. Not even her own perfume was enough to cover the stench of...well, anyway sales were huge for her products. Rudolphe Peugeot for his part made tanks for the Nazi's. My first 10-speed bike which was a Peugeot. No one ever came up to me and said, "Hey, are you a Nazi sympathizer or something?" I never bought Michelin tires but their rubber helped the German defense forces throughout the war.

Nor does it seem to impede Vokswagen sales. The people's car founded by Adolf Hitler.

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