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Target stores pull CD case with Che Guevara image

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  • Target stores pull CD case with Che Guevara image



    Che Guevara CD case pulled from shelvesChe Guevara CD case pulled from shelves

    By Michele Gershberg
    48 minutes ago

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Target Corp said on Friday it had pulled a CD carrying case bearing Ernesto "Che" Guevara's image after an outcry by critics who label the Marxist revolutionary a murderer and totalitarian symbol.

    Target had touted a music disc carrying case for Che admirers emblazoned with the Argentine-born guerrilla's iconic 1960 portrait by Alberto Diaz, or "Korda." A set of small earphones was superimposed on the image, suggesting he was tuned in to an iPod or other music player.

    "It is never our intent to offend any of our guests through the merchandise we carry," Target said in a statement. "We have made the decision to remove this item from our shelves and we sincerely apologize for any discomfort this situation may have caused our guests."

    Some business columnists had decried the product, sold under Target's brand, saying the trendy discount chain was giving in to a misguided fashion craze while ignoring Guevara's role in bringing
    Fidel Castro's Communist rule to Cuba.

    "What next? Hitler backpacks? Pol Pot cookware? Pinochet pantyhose?" wrote Investor's Business Daily in an editorial earlier this month, citing the Guevara case as a model of "tyrant-chic."

    Wall Street Journal columnist Mary Anastasia O'Grady said Target made an "admirable decision" to correct the actions of some company employees who "allowed Target to become a target itself of the Che myth."

    In a rare moment of accord, some social activists said they were not sorry to see Guevara taken off Target's shelves, but on different grounds.

    "Che would just be rolling in his grave if he knew his face was making money for Target," said Nell Greenberg, spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Global Exchange. "Everyone who does support that legacy of social justice is certainly not going to be opposed to stopping Target from using that tool."

    Guevara's image is literally stamped into the capitalist consumer society that he died fighting to overturn. His portrait adorns everything from schoolbags to T-shirts and women's lingerie.

    The picture of a stern-faced Guevara sporting a beret with a single star was popularized on posters after his 1967 execution in Bolivia, where he tried to foment a Communist uprising. Its place as a symbol of idealistic revolt has held strong in the decades since, from students rioting in Paris in 1968 to Palestinians launching an uprising against
    Israel in 2000.

    For people gift-shopping, Guevara's image is part of a motley of symbols of retro cool that populate flea market stalls and chic designer boutiques.

    It has also been used by globally recognized brands. Swatch put Guevara on a wristwatch and Smirnoff vodka featured the picture in an advertising campaign.

    Guevara's own family aims to end the industry of Che merchandise, seeking lawsuits against companies they believe exploit his image and undermine his political philosophy.
    Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
    "Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
    He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ Braindead

  • #2
    I remember after Rushdie's Satanic Verses came out. There was a push to have it pulled from bookstores because it was offensive to Muslims. But after a few days, the bookstores realized the First Amendment is more important.

    So far, with the post-9/11 push to be totally conformist...
    We've lost the 4th Amendment Right against unreasonable searches...
    the 6th Amendment right to an attorney,
    and now the 1st Amendment right of free expression.

    Thank God, we still have our 2nd Amendment right to carry guns

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    • #3
      Enough with these Cliché Guevara images
      Let us be lazy in everything, except in loving and drinking, except in being lazy – Lessing

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      • #4
        I always liked him best in the contented, post-coital rendering with Karl Marx that Monty Python immortalised.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Zkribbler
          I remember after Rushdie's Satanic Verses came out. There was a push to have it pulled from bookstores because it was offensive to Muslims. But after a few days, the bookstores realized the First Amendment is more important.

          So far, with the post-9/11 push to be totally conformist...
          We've lost the 4th Amendment Right against unreasonable searches...
          the 6th Amendment right to an attorney,
          and now the 1st Amendment right of free expression.

          Thank God, we still have our 2nd Amendment right to carry guns
          Stop being so melodramatic . 1st Amendment applies to government action. In this day and age of the internet, a move like this by Target has little effect. Also Target may worry about feeling this protest in their bottom line, due to the protesters exercising their freedom of speech.
          “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
          - John 13:34-35 (NRSV)

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          • #6
            Che's been dead for 40 years (no, the other one). It's time to stop being afraid of his picture!

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            • #7
              He's banned in Target. How much worse can it get?
              Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
              "Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
              He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ Braindead

              Comment


              • #8
                Banned in Cuba?
                The cake is NOT a lie. It's so delicious and moist.

                The Weighted Companion Cube is cheating on you, that slut.

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                • #9
                  [An evil plan begins to form in Zkribbler's brain.

                  ....He will go charging into a Target story, approach the manager and say he is the promoter of a 60's rock concert....then say, "I was in here a few months ago & saw those cute Che Guevara CD carrying cases. We need to buy 50,000 of them to give away to concern goers as they come into the stadium. How soon can you fill our order. ]

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                  • #10


                    Stores should not pull merchandise that is offensive to one group of people. They should tell the offended parties that they have a right not to buy merchandise with Che's picture on it, but that since there are other people who desire to buy such merchandise, it will continued to be offered, as [insert store here] believes in the freedom of choice of its customers.

                    Now, obviously Hitler backpacks wouldn't be sold, but in my opinion that's because the market for the goods is too small, and outweighed by the obviously huge outcry it would cause. Anything short of that level of outcry should be ignored by stores.

                    Miami Cuban lobby
                    <Reverend> IRC is just multiplayer notepad.
                    I like your SNOOPY POSTER! - While you Wait quote.

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                    • #11
                      His portrait adorns everything from schoolbags to T-shirts and women's lingerie.


                      Hmmm, I would consider my life to a bit of a succes if my head appeared on womens lingerie after I've died.
                      No need for turning imo, well, erm, except maybe for turning my head, that is.
                      Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing?
                      Then why call him God? - Epicurus

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                      • #12
                        I will never forgive the Miami Cuban lobby for making Bush win, because Clinton returned to Cuba that damned kid Elian and they were pissed.
                        I need a foot massage

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                        • #13
                          Chegitz has made a CD?
                          Blah

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                          • #14
                            Yes. The title is I Am Revolting.
                            Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
                            "Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
                            He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ Braindead

                            Comment


                            • #15

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