The Marketer’s Marxist: the struggle over Che’s image drags on
"El Che", taken by the author, Cienfuegos, Cuba
Like most 17 year-old middle class kids I really believed I was a Marxist. And like most deluded 17 year-old middle class kids I wore a t-shirt with one man’s iconic face staring out from my chest. Everyone knows Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara – a REAL middle class Marxist from Argentina. His face – snapped briefly at a Cuban rally in 1960 by luck more than design by Alberto Díaz “Korda” Gutiérrez – has become one of the most iconic in history. Yet the photographer never truly profited from it as it was never protected by copyright. Following Korda’s death in 2001, his daughter Diana is now taking up the mantle of pursuing those who have used that famous shot in their marketing, I learned this week.
Ironic Icon
Vodka firm Smirnoff used the Che photo – much to Korda’s displeasure – to advertise its wares in 2000. The irony was not lost on those who knew that Guevara did not actually drink, and he would surely resent the whole concept of his face being used in such a capitalist manner. The whole spin around that image represents great PR in itself. After Guevara’s death at the hands of the Bolivian military in 1967, Fidel Castro had himself what every revolution needs – a martyr. And what better image to use than Korda’s snapshot to provide the impression Castro wanted to convey of his revolution – young, bold, determined, resolute, and utterly defiant.
For all its cliché, for all the bombardment in teenage posters, t-shirts, car stickers, it’s still one of my favourite images. I would love to know how much that photo would be worth in the real world of marketing, surely more than any other – and that’s not just me being nostalgic. I guess for once we can thank its lack of copyright that we see it quite as often as we do.
