WARSAW: Vladimir Lenin is not considered funny in Poland.

A Polish mobile phone operator that used a cartoon image of the Russian communist revolutionary found itself barraged by angry feedback and responded this week by stopping its advertising campaign.

Older Poles remember Lenin for shaping a communist regime that killed millions and imposed mass terror in the Soviet Union. A communist regime was later imposed on Poles against their will by the Soviets after World War II.

The company, Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa S.A., counted on younger Poles having shaken such associations, and recently started using a Lenin cartoon with the command "Keep Talking!" in poster and TV ads. The ads are for a low calling rate available to all customers of its Heyah brand, playing with the communist promise of egalitarianism.

Heyah said late Monday on its Facebook page that it would pull the ads due to the outcry. It also said it had never intended offense.

Among those who protested was the Institute of National Remembrance, a state body that investigates communist-era crimes. Its director, Lukasz Kaminski, wrote in an open letter to the mobile operator that Lenin was "one of the biggest criminals" of the 20th century.

He said he was outraged that the company used the image of a man who was directly responsible for millions of deaths, including that of hundreds of thousands of Poles.

"It is irresponsible to trivialize mass crimes and their victims," Kaminski said. "The social effects of this campaign could also be more dangerous because it is addressed to young people, among whom it builds positive associations with Lenin."

A consumer rights group also urged people to complain to the company, a campaign it said resulted in about 1,000 letters. The Your Cause Association also said it would also gladly pay for history lessons for the members of the board of the phone company and the advertising agency that it used.