Le Monde has issued an apology over its cover after facing a barrage of accusations of ‘comparing’ President Emmanuel Macron to Adolf Hitler. The magazine insisted that it “obviously” had no such parallel in mind.

The controversial image featured on the cover of the M le magazine du Monde, issued on Saturday. It contains a photo collage of Macron and the Yellow Vest protesters on the Champs Elysees.

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The image and its art style have definitely caught the eye of readers, with the President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand suggesting that they might have invoked certain parallels.

Hâte de comprendre ce qui fonde les références graphiques et iconographiques du ⁦@lemonde_M⁩ S’il ne peut s’agir de hasard, de quoi s’agit-il alors ? À la recherche du sens perdu... pic.twitter.com/MHMmia0G2c — Richard Ferrand (@RichardFerrand) 29 декабря 2018 г.

The magazine’s readers have compared the cover to an illustration featuring a collage of Adolf Hitler and crowds saluting him. The two images do share a similar art style. The Hitler image was made by illustrator Lincoln Agnew, and was featured in an article by Harper’s Magazine back in July 2017.

Votre "Une" fait surtout référence a cette photo. ⬇️C'est très gênant pour des journalistes comme vous de tomber aussi bas et de jouer a ce jeu très dangereux de comparaison. #LeMondepic.twitter.com/3XLpUpvB8k — FluctuatNecMergitur ⚓ 🎈 (@funfrenchy) 29 декабря 2018 г.

Many users, however, mocked those who were “offended” by the “comparison,” noting it was quite peculiar that Hitler was the first person who came to their minds.

The cover of the magazine might actually have compared Macron to the Communism ideologist Karl Marx, the jokers suggested.

Pas cool #LeMonde de comparer Macron à Karl Marx. pic.twitter.com/14dJFOepI2 — Le Bouseux Magazine (@LeBouseuxMag) 30 декабря 2018 г.

Or the Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin.

Ah bon, pourtant étonnamment beaucoup ont pensé à un autre parallèle! pic.twitter.com/PIXNdCS680 — Gilles WIDAWSKI (@Gilles_widawski) 29 декабря 2018 г.

Or maybe even to a particular giant lizard, hell-bent on destruction.

Nous vivons dans un monde d'images, de références graphiques, de symboles que nous comprenons tous à notre sauce. Et le rouge, blanc et noir, c'est très efficace visuellement. Je suis à peu près certain que @lemondefr n'a jamais voulu assimiler Macron à Godzilla, et pourtant... pic.twitter.com/92rHGLR22X — Julien Joly (@Julien_J0ly) 29 декабря 2018 г.

Le Monde issued an apology for the disturbance that the cover has caused, but it rejected suggestions that had intended to compare Macron to the Nazi leader.

“We apologize to those who have been shocked by the graphic design which obviously does not correspond to the reproaches forwarded to us,” M le magazine du Monde’s director, Luc Bronner, explained in an editorial note.

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The image was influenced by Russian constructivism style, Bronner stated, pointing out that a number of earlier issues of the magazine featured covers of a similar style. Some of them were even made by the same illustrator, who produced the Hitler collage.

Voici une série d'exemples de l’utilisation de ces références graphiques rouges et noires dans d’anciennes publications de M le magazine du Monde pic.twitter.com/xEMgE1n0Vp — Luc Bronner (@lucbronner) 29 декабря 2018 г.

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