The Nazi Fiasco

So, at work we have a launch event coming up for a client that makes toy soldiers. On Tuesday I discovered that my manager wanted me to wear some sort of military uniform for the event so that I could be the model for the photo session. My co-worker had the brilliant idea that I should wear a Nazi uniform. So, she got online and ordered it, then told me about it after the fact.

I felt a little uncomfortable about it, but I tried to brush it off. But the more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I felt and the more worried I got. These pictures are going to go in newspapers and magazines. And I would be in a Nazi uniform. Not a good thing to have pop up years later when you're applying for jobs.(Plus anyone remember a certain Royal prince dressed as a Nazi at a party? Yea, not a pretty PR situation...) On top of that, there is a high possibility that it could create a bunch of bad press for the company. Not to mention the founder of the company is attending the event and he's a Scottish guy who use to serve in the British military. The last thing we need is for all our global clients to see these pictures and think that we're Nazi sympathizers. We could potentially offend and piss off a bunch of people.

So, I told my parents about it, Mom strongly recommended that I tell my manager about the possible negative effects. Dad said I should tell them that my family is Jewish and it is extremely insulting to make me wear the uniform. (Half truth, I think the Jewish part is from a long long long time ago.) My old co-workers screamed discrimination because they were making me wear a Nazi uniform because I'm white. And my colleagues who work at another PR firm and a law firm both told me I should absolutely refuse because it's tasteless, offensive and completely ignorant.

I should probably take a minute to explain the cultural misunderstanding. Koreans have a different perspective on WWII than we do. To them, the bad guys are the Japanese since they were under Japanese occupation from 1919 until 1945 when the Allies kicked Germany and Japan's ass. They don't realize just how bad the Nazi's were because at the time they were living through their own hell with the Japanese. Thus why they didn't realize I would be offended by wearing a Nazi uniform or that it could be a potentially bad situation media-wise.

Back to the story...

I mentioned to my co-worker this morning that my father wasn't happy with me wearing a Nazi uniform because some of my family was Jewish. (Ok, so it's stretching the truth...) Her reaction was "Why did you tell him?" And that was the end of the conversation. I spoke with a colleague over lunch and finally got the courage to ask my co-worker for a meeting. We sat down and I told her I thought it was a really bad idea for me to wear a Nazi uniform and then explained why. I told her that me wearing a Nazi uniform is the equivalent to her wearing a Japanese WWII uniform. It was then that she got it. I never got an apology (I'm beginning to think the people at my office don't believe in apologies) but she did agree to let me wear a different uniform and it all happened without a battle. (I'm borrowing my boyfriend's military uniform.) Had she said no, I would have vehemently refused anyway.

So, crisis adverted and I've successfully educated my co-worker on how the West views Nazis...