The New York Times points to the downside of celebrity endorsement.
Christian Dior, the French fashion brand, has become the latest global company to learn a hard lesson about the danger of offending Chinese pride.
Facing the possibility of a boycott of its products, the luxury company said on Thursday that it had dropped the American actress Sharon Stone from its advertising in China after she suggested last week that the recent earthquakes in Sichuan Province were karmic retribution for Beijing’s treatment of Tibet.
Ms. Stone said last week during the Cannes Film Festival: “I’m not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And then the earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma?
If Stone knew what she was talking about, then I’d say we all better get under the table and brace ourselves, for very few humans nations are truly kind.
“…for very few humans are truly kind.”
Wow, David, that’s pretty cynical. Maybe few humans in the ad industry, but I’d like to think people in the real world tip the scales in the other direction.
You’re right, MT. What I should have said is “very few nations are truly kind.” But nations are made up of people, so it’s splitting hairs to some degree.
When the good old USA kills hundreds of thousands of people because war time Presidents have a greater chance of establishing their legacy, do the people of the world stop and say, “I hate America”? Or do the say, “I hate Americans”?
I know there are many “truly kind” Americans. But I also recognize that their kindness does nothing to stop our national atrocities. Hence, the cynicism.
From what I can see:
Sharon has brains. She’s got a body. Heck, maybe she even has a good spirit. I don’t know her personally or businessly, either. What the heck does she need perfume for or even clothes?
let your good nose do the work naturally, gal! Don’t sweat it, or do. Let the apocrine glands work for you not against you. Which reminds me… we westerners do have a weird body odor compared to Koreans. I don’t know about the Chinese, can they smell us stinky people?
Hello! I am a Tibet supporter from Japan.
Please read this letter written by Dr. Robert Thurman that includes a great idea to make ” Dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Hu Jintao” happen at the G8 Summit this July in Japan.
Sign this letter and send it to your country’s leader immediately!
Let’s make this happen!
the detail is here.
http://fttj.org/