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Comment by stephen_g | Hacker News Reader

That’s really interesting... I guess they’ve managed to repair their brand domestically? But for me, I’m Australian, and the first thing I think of is (of course) “gas chambers” when I see the name... I would assume many in the US, UK etc. would do the same.

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I think it's a pretty odd thing to know. It's a fun fact or a difficult quiz question rather than something that everyone knows.

Monsanto is in the news now. IG Faber has split into many independent companies and doesn't exist anymore.

I'm in my 50s in the UK and never heard of them. I realise this may not reflect well upon me.

Maybe it just depends on what documentaries you’ve watched... Thinking back, I don’t think I ever learned about it in school but later just watching WWII documentaries about it. I guess it’s probably not actually common knowledge.

(IG Farben manufactured the Zyklon B that was used in the gas chambers).

I'm German and had the same immediate reaction as you, but as the other comments show, it's hard to tell how widespread that is.

Which brand? Bayer or IG Farben?

I'd guess the association of "IG Farben" with the gas chambers is very strong, but that brand ceased to exist in the 1950s. The name "Bayer" (from my perspective) never has been associated with it that strongly.

IG Farben. Yeah, I don’t have the same reaction to Bayer.

I'm from the UK and don't recognise the name at all. If I was to associate an existing corporation to the Nazis, the first name in my head would be Hugo Boss.

Also Volkswagen and Fanta.

And I suppose IBM warrants a mention for doing business with Nazis.

I didn't know about the history of Fanta until just now looking it up on wikipedia. Very weird that such a drink would still be marketed (even with a "75th Anniversary Edition" special formulation). There really is no shame in profiting from just about anything.

Why wouldn't or shouldn't they market it? Coca-Cola Germany improvised a new soft drink during the war and called it Fanta, and later it was adopted by the parent company. It's not like they helped build the gas chambers or anything.

Well a soft drink developed to work around trade restrictions is pretty much unrelated to crimes against humanity. They even discontinued the line it once reunified corporately (now that the restrictions were gone) but demand remained so it was returned to production.

LOL, wow.

The Fanta drink originated as a cola substitute in Germany under a World War II trade embargo for Coca-Cola ingredients in 1940. . . . In February 2015, a 75th-anniversary version of Fanta was released in Germany. Packaged in glass bottles evoking the original design and with an authentic original wartime flavor . . . An associated television ad referenced the history of the drink and said the Coca-Cola company wanted to bring back "the feeling of the Good Old Times".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanta

I cannot help but think of IBM punch cards. Especially when untechy people say they have nothing to hide from the surveillance economy.

OK so try this exercise - associate IG Farben (and to some extent Bayer) with new name - Zyklon B (gas used in gas chambers).

I understand that in complex business sometimes controversies arise, but by they went straight evil during WWII (ie using Auschwitz prisoners killing many)

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