Anti-capitalist icon Ernesto “Che” Guevara, who with Fidel Castro led Cuba’s 1959 revolution, is now leading an advertising campaign for the spicy version of Smirnoff vodka, according to AP INTERNATIONAL. The use of Che’s famous portrait to sell booze has outraged the man who took it, photographer Alberto Diaz Gutierrez, who has filed suit against the agency responsible for the ad.
The well-known image of Guevara, which has for years graced countless T-shirts and posters to inspire a new generation of would-be revolutionaries, is now seen superimposed over a hammer and sickle motif, with a chili pepper replacing the sickle.
Gutierrez has never previously claimed a copyright, but said he is appalled at the company’s trivializing of the historical icon. The claim, filed with London’s High Court, is scheduled to be heard in September.
