A new print ad for French automaker Citroen has been pulled from several Spanish newspapers amidst complaints from Chinese netizens over the artsy portrayal of Chairman Mao. As you can see in the image, Citroen modifies the famous likeness of Mao that looms over Tiananmen Square in Beijing, adding a scowl to his face, to demonstrate I guess how the former Chinese leader wouldn’t approve of a car as cool as the company’s new hatchback. The text under the image reads, “It’s true, we are leaders, but at Citroen the revolution never stops,” implying that the Citroen revolution (wasn’t aware there was one) has a broader cultural impact than the Cultural Revolution. And that the carmaker’s hatchback revolution will have longer legs that Mao’s own social/political/economic revolution. Hence, Mao’s displeasure. One outraged Chinese internet user wrote on Tianya.com, “As a Chinese, I felt greatly insulted when seeing this ad. It is not only insulting Chairman Mao, but the whole Chinese nation.” As the complaints piled up, like any of today’s spineless corporations, Citroen apologized to “all those hurt by the ad” and removed it from the Spanish media, including El Paiz.
This episode serves as a reminder to Spaniards who probably don’t give a rat’s ass about Citroen or Mao, Chinese who are still mesmerized by Mao’s significance and the rest of the international community that nationalism still trumps artistic expression in the Middle Kingdom. No matter how interesting an artistic rendering of Mao might me (and this one is certainly artistic), there are always going to be those who view political art less as a creative effort and more as a destructive effort. And where this happens is where creativity dies. But even more important, where does Citroen get off trying to fool us into thinking hatchbacks were ever the slightest bit cool?
Image: BBC News
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