Nanushki said the product was meant satirically, but it was happy to heed the Auschwitz Museum's request.
By AMY SPIROUpdated: MARCH 4, 2018 00:44The "Adolf" socks by Polish company Nanushki(photo credit: screenshot)
Polish sock company Nanushki changed the name of one of its products from “Adolf” to “Patrick” after a complaint from the Auschwitz Museum.The company, which ships throughout Europe, sells a variety of novelty socks for adults and kids.One of its designs, featuring a dark-coiffed man with a toothbrush mustache and a red tie, was named “Adolf.” But after the Auschwitz Museum complained to the company about the tasteless footwear, the company kept the design, but changed its name to “Patrick.”The company told The Jerusalem Post that the product was intended as satire, but it changed the name once the Auschwitz Museum requested it so as not to offend anyone.“The sock named Adolf is a satirical and ironic character, a figure invented and present in an imaginary world only,” Nanushki told the Post on Friday. “All our product descriptions are written in a funny and satirical way – this was also the case with Adolf’s caricature.”According to the New York Post, before the name switch, the “Adolf” sock description noted that he was designed “to bring order in the socks drawer.” Today, the identical “Patrick” sock is a businessman who “definitely does not like to talk about his past.”“The idea of creating this project was to present the characters in a mocking and comic way,” the company said, adding that it was “surprised by the buzz that has developed around the whole affair and the fact that someone could pick up a pair of socks in such a negative and totally mistaken way.”The company said it changed the name and description after the intervention of the Auschwitz Museum: “There were no reasons not to do so if it really hurts someone... If someone felt offended by what we were offering, we sincerely apologize.”The Museum told The Jerusalem Post on Friday that it reached out to the company through its Facebook page to request the change.“We received no reply, but we noticed that the name of this product and its description has been changed,” said a spokesman.
