JCPenney "Hitler Teapot" Featured on a Billboard Ad

Reddit spotlighted this billboard that features the Nazi-esque kettle

By John Boone May 28, 2013 7:57 PMTags
Hitler TeapotJCP; AFP/Getty Images

You can buy a house that looks like Hitler. You can live in your house that looks like Hitler with your cat that looks like Hitler. And now you can live in your house that looks like Hitler with your cat that looks like Hitler and drink tea from your teapot that looks like Hitler.

The kettle is designed by American architect Michael Graves, and is available at JCPenney. According to its product page, it "has all the bells and whistles you'll need—a cool-touch handle, space-saving design and a delightful whistle to let you know when it's ready to pour." Oh, and a special feature: It looks like Hitler! Well, maybe.

The billboard featuring the teapot is located east of the 405 freeway in Culver City, Calif., and photos of it were originally uploaded to the Internet by a Reddit user, before it quickly went viral.

Instagram

JCPenney has since responded to the controvery on Twitter, writing, "Definitely unintended. If we had designed the teapot to look like something, we would have gone with a puppy tea kettle :)

The likening to Hitler has not yet hit the JC Penney reviews though.

"Wow this Tea Kettle is beautiful!!! I love looking at it on my stovetop every day," raves one reviewer. The user goes on to call it "functional art" and gushes over its "european design."

The reviewer continues, "The handle is what I think they call spot welded." Eh, while that may be the technical term for the handle, it looks—as many Internet users have pointed out—a lot like an arm...doing some sort of salute.