Claim:
Retailer JCPenney once had a billboard featuring a tea kettle that some accused of looking like Adolf Hitler.
Rating:
Rumors that retailer JCPenney once featured a billboard advertising a tea kettle that some viewers claimed looked like Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler circulated online in October 2025.
Users on social media platforms such as X (archived), Facebook (archived) and Instagram (archived) posted purported pictures of the billboard, with one of the images blurred to encourage a more abstract view of what many saw as the kettle’s resemblance to Hitler giving a Nazi salute.
One user on Facebook (archived) wrote, “Back in 2013, J.C. Penney sold a stainless steel tea kettle that looked a bit too similar to an Austrian painter who I shall not name.”
The claim JCPenney once had a billboard featuring a tea kettle that passersby accused of looking like Hitler is true.
The billboard went up overlooking the southbound Interstate 405 freeway in Culver City, California, in 2013 and a Reddit user posted an image of the advertisement in the r/LosAngeles subreddit. The billboard was widely reported on in the media due in part to the retailer’s well-reported falling profits at the time.
For instance, Los Angeles-area network affiliates such as CBSLA and ABC7 reported on the billboard on May 23, 2013. The tea kettle in question was from the Michael Graves collection, a JCPenney exclusive line of housewares, and retailed for $40 on JCPenney.com.
The company described the stainless steel tea kettle as having “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.”
A wide range of media outlets like NPR, Time, Huffington Post, Mother Jones, AdWeek, Today, The Hollywood Reporter, Forbes and The Guardian picked up the “Hitler teakettle” story through the week that followed.
The widespread attention led to the retailer posting a response on Twitter (archived) calling the design “totally unintentional” and said, “If we’d designed the kettle to look like something, we would’ve gone w/a snowman.”
@mashable Totally unintentional. If we’d designed the kettle to look like something, we would’ve gone w/a snowman 🙂 pic.twitter.com/DAbbOwlB65
— JCPenney (@jcpenney) May 28, 2013
The viral image ultimately resulted in the retailer quickly taking the billboard down, but not before the teakettle sold out on the JCPenney website. Demand spiked so high during the brief controversy that some enterprising eBay retailers were able to capitalize and sold the item at a profit, with some listings as high as $199.
An image on the reputable photo depository Getty Images from May 30, 2013, captured the pop culture moment surrounding the viral sensation in a photograph that featured a woman looking at a picture of the billboard in question on a laptop screen.
Mother Jones reported a comment from Culver City’s mayor at the time, Jeffrey Cooper, who said, “I am disappointed JCPenney actually put the billboard up in the first place and more outraged that they actually attempted to defend it … As a Jew, I am offended, [and] as an elected official, I am mad that the city I represent is linked to this.”
The outlet also published a comment from the Anti-Defamation League, who stated, “JCPenney did the right thing by responding to public concerns and removing the tea pot from their product line … We take JCPenney at their word that any resemblance to the Nazi dictator was completely unintended.”
Snopes reached out to JCPenney for further comment on the 2013 billboard and its recent resurfacing online. We will update this article if we receive a response.
Sources
Abramovitch, Seth. “‘Hitler’ Tea Kettles Sell Out as J.C. Penney Removes L.A. Billboard.” The Hollywood Reporter, 30 May 2013, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/hitler-tea-kettles-sell-as-560698/.
Anti-Defamation League, Mayor of Culver City Respond to JCPenney’s Hitler Teakettle Billboard | Mother Jones. 21 Jul. 2014, https://web.archive.org/web/20140721030621/http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/05/mayor-culver-city-adl-respond-jcpenney-hitler-tea-kettle.
Baskin, Jonathan Salem. “Fuss Over Hitler Teapot Suggests Marketing Opportunity For JC Penney.” Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathansalembaskin/2013/05/30/fuss-over-hitler-teapot-suggests-marketing-opportunity-for-jc-penney/. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
Chappell, Bill. “Tempest Over A Teapot: JC Penney Removes ‘Hitler’ Billboard.” NPR, 29 May 2013. America. NPR, https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/05/29/187054424/tempest-over-a-teapot-jc-penney-removes-hitler-billboard.
“Hitler Teapot.” Wikipedia, 8 Sep. 2025. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hitler_teapot&oldid=1310202514.
“J.C. Penney Removes Billboard of Tea Kettle Said to Resemble Hitler.” TODAY.Com, 30 May 2013, http://www.today.com/news/j-c-penney-removes-billboard-tea-kettle-said-resemble-hitler-6C10130981.
J.C. Penney Sales Tumbling – CBS News. 26 Dec. 2014, https://web.archive.org/web/20141226234259/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jc-penney-sales-tumbling/.
J.C. Penney’s “Hitler” Tea Kettle Disappears From Retailer’s Website, Billboard (UPDATE). 12 Oct. 2014, https://web.archive.org/web/20141012174154/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/29/jc-penney-hitler-disappears-online_n_3351960.html.
JCPenney’s ‘Hitler’ Teakettle Sells Out Online | TIME.Com. 15 Jul. 2014, https://web.archive.org/web/20140715081220/http://business.time.com/2013/05/29/jcpenneys-hitler-tea-kettle-sells-out-online/.
Michael Graves Design Bells and Whistles Stainless Steel Tea Kettle – Jcpenney. 7 Jun. 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20130607042324/http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/for-the-home/shop-brands/view-all-brands/michael-graves-design/shop-categories/view-all/michael-graves-design-bells-and-whistles-stainless-steel-tea-kettle-/prod.jump?ppId=pp5001930588.
Only, Subscription. Unable to Catch a Break, JCPenney Puts Up Billboard Showing Tea Kettle That Looks Like Hitler. 28 May 2013, https://www.adweek.com/creativity/unable-catch-break-jcpenney-puts-billboard-showing-tea-kettle-looks-hitler-149835/.
Rogers, Katie. “JC Penney’s ‘Hitler’ Tea Kettle Sells out but Finds a New Home on eBay.” The Guardian, 29 May 2013. World News. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-news-blog/2013/may/29/jc-penney-hitler-tea-kettle.
Tea Kettle Or Adolf Hitler? JCPenney Billboard Stirs Controversy “ CBS Los Angeles. 27 Jul. 2014, https://web.archive.org/web/20140727035502/http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/05/28/tea-kettle-or-adolf-hitler-jcpenney-billboard-stirs-controversy/.
“This Illustration Shows a Woman Looking at an Image of The…” Getty Images, 30 May 2013, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-illustration-shows-a-woman-looking-at-an-image-of-the-news-photo/169674787.
Wayback Machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20140815000000*/http://www.scpr.org/blogs/newmedia/2013/05/29/13824/jc-penney-takes-down-billboard-onlookers-say-resem/. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
