Legends involving furtive images or messages supposedly sneaked into packaging and advertising as subversive jokes are plentiful. Many of them are false, but finding one that's true is, in this case, unfortunately distressing.
According to a news report from NBC affiliate KXAS-TV in Dallas/Ft. Worth, a holiday shopping flier for a "Party City" store, which was supposed to feature Hanukkah items, included the disturbing message "CC Hates the Jews" printed in bold letters across a large blue-and-white Hanukkah banner spread over two pages.
A holiday shopping flier that's been distributed to thousands of households in north Texas is creating controversy because a message of hate is included within an advertisement.
An ad for "Party City" was supposed to highlight a sale on Hanukkah items, but it also contained a hateful anti-Semitic message.
The advertisement includes the sentence "CC Hates the Jews" in large, bold letters.
KXAS-TV reported that ADVO, the company that printed the advertisement, said a graphic artist working on the flier had stepped away from his desk, and while he was gone a co-worker with the initials C.C. altered the banner's text. Neither the artist nor anyone else noticed the change, and the flier went to print — and was distributed to thousands of homes in north Texas — with the hurtful message intact. Why the error was not caught remains a subject of investigation.
Last updated: 12 December 2017