Posted on: Saturday, May 14, 2005

Wal-Mart says Nazi ad was a mistake

By Eduardo Montes
Associated Press

PHOENIX — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is apologizing for a newspaper ad featuring a photo of a book-burning in Nazi-era Germany.

The ad was published in a northern Arizona newspaper by a political action committee the company helped fund.

The company was writing an apology letter yesterday to the Anti-Defamation League in Arizona, which had complained, and will run an apology ad this weekend in Flagstaff's Arizona Daily Sun, which carried the original ad, said Daphne Moore, director of community affairs for Wal-Mart.

"It was a terrible mistake and one that we sincerely regret," Moore said.

The ad ran as part of a campaign opposing an ordinance that would effectively prevent Wal-Mart from opening a supercenter in Flagstaff.

The ordinance was passed by the Flagstaff City Council, but voters are being asked to ratify it.

The ad showed a historic photo of people throwing books into a large fire. A swastika is clearly visible.

The text below it reads: "Should we let government tell us what we can read?"

It says it was paid for by Protect Flagstaff's Future, the political action committee, with "major funding" by Wal-Mart.

Moore said the ad was prepared by an outside agency but approved by Wal-Mart. "Whoever the individual who approved it ... was not aware of the historical context of the picture," she said.