The above
advertisement for the
Citroën C4 was
withdrawn in Spain after complaints from some
Chinese that it was insulting to the entire nation.
Somehow, I think that’s an exaggeration.
Sure, some folks in the
Politburo might be annoyed. But there will be a lot of Chinese who think that
Mao Tse-tung is fair game when it comes to advertising
humour.
Americans are quite happy to dress up an actor as Lincoln and make a few jokes, and Elizabeth I appeared in
Blackadder.
At least neither Abe Lincoln nor QEI was responsible for the deaths of
70 million of
their own subjects, managing to butcher more than their enemies were able to.
While it’s true I might get annoyed at the same treatment being given to Confucius, surely a more uniting figure for Chinese people, chances are I’d shrug it off. The late Pat Morita did plenty of Confucius jokes in
Happy Days, and I still watched the series—even when the Fonz became the star.
Having driven the C4—both diesel and petrol models—I can even endorse these cars.
Citroën, don’t buy in for a second that Mao is a universally revered symbol among
Chinese, or that we can’t take a joke.
And remember that those Chinese people writing on message boards about how insulted they are at this ad are under the surveillance of the Politburo. Ten years ago, they would not have even been allowed online. They know this and they know there are spies and informants online. Everyone is just acting as though they are loyal Communist Party members and not being counter-revolutionary.
You can bet that no one in
Beijing will complain if Mao was used in a Mercedes-Benz advertisement as a satisfied customer. After all, the man ordered plenty of 600 models.
No Chinese complained when Citroën used Chinese symbols to sell the AX (
‘Révolutionnaire!’) in 1986–7. As far as I can make out, this is just an extension.
Of course, Citroën has apologized to the overly sensitive types, I say principally because it has a vested interest in
Red China, selling everything from a facelifted Peugeot 206 as the C2 to ZX sedans that command a hefty share of the taxi market.
Citroën’s statement read, ‘We repeat our good feelings towards the Chinese people, and confirm that we respect the representatives and symbols of the country.’
Money and capitalism have won the day and assured the Communists an apology. I wonder what Mao would say to that.