An image showing how Apple is compared to Hitler was seen on the web which was originally intended as an ad for an upcoming smartphone from LeTV. The image was posted by LeTV Founder and CEO Jia Yueting at his official Weibo account.
The teaser poster showed an image of Hitler bearing the familiar hairstyle and moustache with one arm raised which is reminiscent of the "Heil Hitler" pose. The other arm shows a band that has an Apple logo on it. One side of the ad showed some yellow tapes bearing the words "Caution: Do not cross" while the opposite side showed at least five children, each wearing a smile. At the lower part of the image, two straight lines can be seen drawn parallel at the bottom wherein one makes a turn heading to Apple or Hitler while the other turns to the other side, straight to the children's location.
The ad bears an accompanying message which stated the words from Yueting. Through Google translate, the words, originally written in Chinese characters, said: "Apple closed loop mode greatly curb technological innovation, hinder the industrial progress and hurt the interests of users. Everyone in worship Apple, but its pattern is dusk empire. Rapid development and long-term value for the user industry, how do you think should be made to change in order to promote the progress of the industry?"
According from The Westside Story, LeTV says that Apple is curbing the way that smartphones are built, that developers are not allowed to do whatever they want, and that they are also restricted "within the bounds that curbs the innovation and creativity among them." The post also suggested that Apple's design approach is something that stifles innovation while being harmful to the interests of smartphone users.
The post also bears a teaser title that says: "Crowdsourced freedom vs. arrogance and tyranny." The line that goes straight towards the children's location could be interpreted as the side where crowdsourced freedom is found. The other line that goes towards Hitler or Apple could be the side for arrogance and tyranny.
There is also a speculation that LeTV's purpose on its attack against Apple is because of the fact that the iPhone 6 was 2014's best-selling handset. Another reason for the attack is because Chinese customers have shown dedication and admiration to the iOS device.
LeTV will be launching a new phone which is rumored to feature a 5.5-inch display, a RAM of 4GB and a USB Type-C port that is reversible. In essence, the teaser ad is meant to point out the differences between the open source and closed source software. Yueting, who is an Android fan, believes that being open source is something that is very important at present times.
The Weibo site seems to have been updated as it now bears the familiar ad without the Hitler image. It is now replaced by an image of a King.
