Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche draws inspiration from Che Guevara during a CES speech.
You likely wouldn’t expect to see those college posters of Che Guevara hanging in a corporate boardroom, but Daimler AG CEO Dieter Zetsche turned to the legendary Cuban revolutionary in his keynote remarks during the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas – triggering the sort of firefight Che was known for.
A massive image of the revolutionary – shown with his trademark beret but adorned with the Mercedes tri-star logo – was flashed on a screen, dwarfing both Zetsche and several Mercedes-Benz vehicles as the executive announced an update to the carmaker’s Embrace infotainment system and outlined its ability to assist in car-sharing programs.
“Some colleagues still think that car-sharing borders on communism,” proclaimed Zetsche, “but if this is a revolution, then ‘Viva la revolucion!”
The comments generated outrage, notably from this country’s anti-communist Cuban community – including several state and federal lawmakers — in turn, leading the German automaker to issue a formal apology for actions it deemed “thoughtless” and “stupid.”
Mercedes isn’t the first company to try to coopt the image of the legendary Che, who was killed by Bolivian troops in 1967 while trying to spread the Cuban revolution to the South American mainland.
His likeness has appeared in countless advertisements in the U.S. and abroad, including those for French automaker Renault, as well as Converse Shoes, Scotch-Brite and even the medical insurer Sanitas.
But automakers are traditionally quite sensitive to criticism, especially in the U.S., and the Cuban exile community has shown a striking ability to influence both government policy and corporate strategies.
The Daimler presentation quickly generated a rebuke from Cuban-born Sen. Robert Melendez, a New Jersey Democrat, as well as Florida State Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, a Republican. The latter described the revolutionary, born Ernesto Guevara, as “a cold-blooded killing machine.”
A statement from Daimler said the company, “sincerely apologize(s) to those who took offense.”
Perhaps, but the odds are that Che’s face will show up again soon in someone else’s advertising campaign.