Coca-Cola Apologizes for 'Good Old Times' Ad About Nazi Germany

Coca-Cola has pulled its most recent insensitive advertisement that suggested Nazi Germany was the "Good Old Times." The Express writes that the German ad was created to celebrate the 75th year of Fanta sodas by recounting the birth of the popular drink. In the ad, Coca-Cola explains how the company's German operations had a difficult time getting ingredients to the country's bottling plant 75 years ago. This forced bottlers to create a beverage that didn't require Coca-Cola syrup. However, the nostalgic video failed to mention that the ingredient issues were due to the fact that Germany was "gripped by Nazi rule and fighting the Second World War," a time during which the ruling party created the Holocaust. Instead, the clip simply states that Fanta wants to bring "the feeling of the Good Old Times back."

Commenters were understandably upset; Coca-Cola pulled the video soon after it aired. A spokesperson for the brand apologized for any offense the advertisement caused, claiming to the Express that it was supposed to "evoke positive childhood memories." The spokesperson added: "Fanta was invented in Germany during the Second World War but the 75-year-old brand had no association with Hitler or the Nazi Party." However, rumors have long floated that Fanta actually had "connections with Nazi Germany." People even go so far as to say that orange Fanta was created by the "Third Reich itself because no other fizzy beverages were available during the war."

Coca-Cola has been having trouble distancing itself from Hilter-related mishaps recently. Just last month, the soda company had to suspend its latest social media campaign after Coca-Cola was tricked into tweeting out quotes by the German dictator as cutesy ASCII images.