Thursday, August 2, 2007

Part 2: Humberto Fontova and CNSNews.com

Part 2 of the interview.

Cybercast News Service: In your book you talk a lot about the various companies that put Che Guevara's face and image on their products.

Humberto Fontova: Yes. AT&T, by the way, was selling cell phones with Che's image on them and, just last week, they yanked them, stopped selling them because we protested - we mounted a phone and email program against the company. AT&T apologized, saying the image should not have been there in the first place and then yanked the product. Target was selling CD cases with Che's face this past Christmas. We protested again, and they yanked the product.

Cybercast News Service: Do you think it's morally fair to equate the placement of Guevara's image on a product to placing Heinrich Himmler's image on a product or Levrenti Beria's image on a product?

Humberto Fontova: Probably not, only because of the ignorance. My guess is that 70 percent or 80 percent who buy Che's image and post it on their product - the product managers - have no idea who Che is. They have a vague idea that he was a cool, revolutionary guy, but they have no idea about what he really did. If AT&T
was telling the truth, it's a perfect example when they said "this guy's image shouldn't have been there in the first place." That confirms what I think. Most people who put the image on a product don't know all the details.
Read the rest here.

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