Bridge Over the River Kwai
, set in a WWII-era Japanese prison camp deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia, tells the story of Colonel Saito
pushing British and other Allied prisoners of war to their breaking points — and beyond — as they whistle the
unnofficial theme song of the movie, the Col. Bogey March. Since its release in 1957, the movie has been a
fictional but still painful reminder of all of the atrocities that took place during the war.
Needless to say, when Japanese automaker Nissan started running a commercial depicting a boat-towing Nissan Titan
leading non-Nissan trucks all around American streets to the Col. Bogey March, those who caught the somewhat obscure
reference were a bit offended. After picking their jaws up off the ground, Nissan execs yanked the commercial.