Richard Gere Fiat Commercial Controversy (Video)
Richard Gere, president of the Gere Foundation, International Campaign for Tibet, attends the hearing ‘The Crisis in Tibet: Finding a Path to Peace’ at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. 4/23/08
Italian car company Fiat has issued an apology to China over a television ad featuring actor Richard Gere and a reference to Tibet.
China has come under fire for the way it has handled violent unrest in Tibet, which seeks autonomy from the country.
Gere, a Buddhist, has been active in the free Tibet movement, and has ties to the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader viewed by China as a traitor.
The commercial for Fiat’s new Lancia Delta, shows Gere driving from Hollywood to the Himalayas, where he stops to make handprints in the snow with a young Buddhist monk.
Fiat issued a statement apologizing to the Chinese government and it’s people, but said the ad will not be pulled.
Last month Christian Dior pulled ads featuring Sharon Stone after the actress suggested that the earthquake that hit China may have been “karma.”
View the controversial Richard Gere Fiat commercial below.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=lTVn31L3e8g[/youtube]
photo: Wenn
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Filed under: Celebrities, Video, World News
So neither Gere nor Fiat have invaded a country and then put in place rules that lead to the starvation of tens of thousands of people; and they’re the one’s apologising!
I think we’re seeing the future of branding and advertising. I’ve spoken about how increasingly fragmented the advertising terrain has become. Companies and products that want to stand out have got to make a racket and one way of doing this is designing advertising and marketing campaigns that get talked about and take on a life of their own. There is probably no better way of doing this than offending one group’s sensibilities while re-enforcing and complimenting another group’s. The Fiat ad does this since it was intended for airing in Europe where Free-Tibet sentiment is high. In the European market, the ad’s message is sure to resonate and build visibility and goodwill for the Fiat brand.
Anyone else notice that in the commercial the kids left handprint has 5 fingers and 1 thumb? Just wondering!