Target Pulls Che CD Case
Target has pulled a CD carrying case with the image of Ernesto "Che" Guevara wearing iPod-style headphones.
"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."
Oh, the irony of "Che" consumerism. —MEGHANN MARCO
Target stores pull Che Guevara CD case [Reuters]
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Good on ya, Target. I don't know why Che Guevara is such a "hero" to all these hipster types. He was a Communist revolutionary guerrilla. The guy would be considered a terrorist today. Ooh, he wanted to change the world to forced communism through war and violent uprising, how alternative!
Whether he's a Communist figure or not is irrelevant; he could've been advocating free pudding for children. In the end, Che Guevara is not a "hero", only if you consider violent revolutionaries heroes. Why not Mao Tse-Tung? Or Fidel Castro? Stalin? Hitler? How come we don't see some douchey alterna-rich kid wearing a Goebbels shirt? He was part of a Socialist Revolution. For some reason Guevara has been embraced as a pop-culture icon WITHOUT ANY OF THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT involved.
Che Guevara sucks.
Papercutninja: Because of the ubiquity of the photograph that people just tend to associate with "revolution".
I don't think most people who would be inclined to wear the clothing would even know the historical context of who, why, how, what, or where.
I do consider him a revolutionary, but not a hero. I own a Che-Mario mashup shirt, which I think is hilarious...
Papercutninja: Obviously, Che's image is on so many products because he was hot! Mao, Stalin & Hitler = not cute. Che = cute. Sheesh, must I explain *everything* to you ;-) ??
^alright...that was hilarious.
All political implications aside, I find the anachronism a bit amusing. Seeing Che Guevara with iPod headphones is a bit like seeing Abraham Lincoln using a Blackberry or Julius Caesar driving a Honda.
I suppose that's why I always loved the Flintstones.
I prefer Che Burashka.
That picture is fitting if you think about it. It would've work better with ear-muffs though. He's clearly trying to tone out the noise of the nonstop firing squad that went on under his command.
seeing Che with an iPod is more like seeing Lincoln on an advertisement for the slave trade. To say Che was merely a violent revolutionary is a bit naive. To insult his memory because he has been adopted by a culture he was never part of or even aware of is unfair. I'm no communist sympathizer, I simply enjoy reading about historical figures. Che was more of a socialist. A fine line sure, but an important distinction.
Not only in poor taste, but a blatant rip-off of existing creative:
http://www.commerce.commarts.com/shop/detail.asp?prod=ISS2...
I just love things like this. I love that we co-op images (of revolutionaries or whatever you would choose to call them) and make them pop culture icons, stripping them of their historical context to meet our own desire for "hip" consumer crap! Ha!
I have Che Guevera socks from sockguy.com because they amuse me and are also really good socks.
To me, this is the same thing as co-opting the Nazi skull. No context! It's just so American. I kind of love that.
Oh, and if Target buyers are out there reading? I'd like a line of merchandise for girls with the images of Patty Hearst as "Tania" robbing the bank in the 70s when she was kidnapped by "revolutionaries"! That's a personal favorite! Perhaps we could put a tiara on Patty/Tania. That would rock, thanks!
I wonder if the REAL reason they pulled it is because that image of Che is copyrighted. A guy named Alberto Gutierrez owns it. Werid but true. Viva la property intellectual!
And by "werid," what I really mean is "I sure have been drinking a lot lately."
funny, i had thought of making a Tshirt just like that only with the words "Fuck Ipod" under the picture.
I especially liked the idea for Pol Pot cookware.