I don't want to be too specific, and exhibit a person or a club, so I have chosen to modify the facts slightly, to keep the involved parties uninvolved.
I was recently asked to make a banner for a Nordic show event for a certain kind of pet. In this case we will say it was a dog show. One of my suggestions was a dog wearing a viking uniform, as it is a Nordic show and I imagined that Vikings was one of the common denominators.
The club was thrilled, and they used the banner to invite members from multiple Scandinavian countries. I got several positive replies and comments from multiple members saying that they thought the image was really cute!
Some time later, the Swedish delegation protested, saying that they could not publish the invitation banner to their members, because viking helmets with horns were a symbol of right wing extremists and that they represented Nazis.
Initially I thought that this was a joke, but i don't want to judge before knowing if this indeed is the case in Sweden. Do people look at horned viking helmets and think "Nazi" instead of "Viking"?
And yes - this is made with AI. Love it or hate it, it makes for very affordable illustrations for clubs and groups that have no money and make no money
I don't know what that would be referring to. I would probably have liked your design as well :) // 28 year old born and raised swede
The Swedish delegation tried to explain that they felt that they would risk offending people by sharing a picture og a pet with a horned viking helmet, because it would refer to Nazis. I don't know if this was a reply from just one member/leader or if it was an official reply from the whole club.
I want to be open and accommodate for any local issues, but I don't think I should accommodate for individual persons
I agree with you.
Tell them you made a search to find what they were on about and came up empty handed.
Ask them why they think people would think of nazis. Ask them to elaborate.