|
|
Change Your Life! |
Revolutionary Che Guevara didn't revolt for Vodka |
|
News
|
|
|
August 8, 2000
LONDON (AP) - The photographer who immortalized revolutionary Che Guevara on film in 1960 is suing an advertising agency for using the image to promote vodka, The Guardian newspaper reported Monday. Alberto Diaz Gutierrez, 71, photographed the Latin American icon during a memorial service in Havana, Cuba. The steely image - a favorite in student dormitories worldwide - was recently used in an advertising campaign to promote Smirnoff vodka. In a claim filed in London's High Court, Gutierrez accused advertising agency Lowe Lintas and picture agency Rex Features of trivializing the photo's historical significance by superimposing it with a hammer and sickle motif. The advertisement - for spicy vodka - used a chili pepper in place of the sickle. "To use the image of Che Guevara to sell vodka is a slur on his name and memory. He never drank himself. He was not a drunk and drink should not be associated with his immortal memory," The Guardian quoted Gutierrez as saying in an interview from Cuba. Gutierrez, who also goes by the professional name of Alberto Korda, said he may travel to London to testify during the case, which is expected to be heard in September. The photo was taken March 5, 1960 at a memorial service for more than 100 crew members of a Belgian arms cargo ship, killed in an attack for which Cuba blamed counterrevolutionary forces aided by the U.S. Gutierrez, a news journalist, was assigned to cover the ceremony. When Guevara was later killed, he was hailed a martyr to the revolution. The photo has since become a rallying image in student revolts. Spokesmen for Lowe Lintas and Rex Features were not immediately available for comment Monday. |