Flutterby™! : Target & Che 2006-12-23 01:48:09.178233+00

Target & Che

2006-12-23 01:48:09.178233+00 by Dan Lyke 6 comments

Target pulls Che Guevara image house brand CD cases. The idea of Che Guevara on products at Target is amusing to begin with, but I think this nails it:

"What next? Hitler backpacks? Pol Pot cookware? Pinochet pantyhose? Target gives this monster a pass, while using common sense on almost everything else it sells," Investors Business Daily editorialized on Dec. 13.

I wonder if the occasional cropping up of Nazi themed stuff in Hong Kong and similar places is in the same vein as U.S. merchandizers use images of Che?

While I'd like to think the the merchandiser for Target was clueless, 'Face' and 'logo' items should be checked for licensing and that more than a few people should have reviewed that purchase. Maybe not. And wouldn't that be: Hitler Easy Bake Ovens..

One thing about using Che images on merchandise is that it is extremely unlikely that anybody is going to sue Target for image infringement.

I saw a Che wearing an iPod imprint at Target the other day. I thought it was hilarious. It's more about the contrast and kind of telling of the anti-establishment feel of Apple...

And maybe the Hitler Easy Bake Oven is innappropriate but a Hitler punching bag or Imelda Marco shoes?

And it's kind of out of context, but what the heck happened to Christmas parties this year? CU-Boulder issued a statement saying that any "holiday party" that wasn't tied to some other official event was 'innappropriate' and I'm seeing similar references elsewhere. I never saw any debate that the "Company Christmas Party" was innappropriate or even a concern - just rules issued and cartoons in the paper about them. It almost seems like a ploy by the right to get these rules that really push the edge of "Political Correctness" too far just to give them ammunition...

I kind of think Christmas as a whole fizzled this year. What with the fundies pushing the "no seasons greetings" kick, the notion of the holiday has become tremendously politicized. I couldn't tell if it was just us or the world in general, but we did nothing this year, it seemed like holiday decorations were down, and I'm actually not sick of Christmas music yet.

I had one of my best Christmases ever. This year, we stayed home rather than trot to TX and FL in an attempt to visit all the far-flung family dragging along the only grandchildren on either side (none of our 4 brothers and sisters have reproduced; no cousins for my kids). Son #1 came back from college in the east on Dec. 21. Son #2 was off school for the last 2 weeks of the year, as was I from work (having judiciously saved vacations days through 2006). Charlie wasn't traveling, we bought and decorated a tree for the first time in years, I brined a turkey, and we baked cookies and pies and more cookies. We ate well, we exchanged gifts, we've had Family Game Night almost every night so far (and the other nights, the boys went out with friends for strategy board game sessions that last for hours). We've gone hiking and talked and hung out together, laughing and enjoying each other's company. Tonight we drove around looking at cheesy light displays and actually found 2 houses that were doing the "orchestrated to music on an FM channel" display, a la the famous youtube video.

I'm becoming a big fan of smaller holidays. Our 24^th was a ride on the tandem around Nicasio Reservoir (with a stop in the middle to help some guy who was moving one of those foam portable hot tubs that had blown off his trailer, and he'd had to go swimming in the reservoir to recover the top to it), coupled with some time spent looking for salmon in the creeks, and then a little poking about in the evenings trying to find Christmas lights.

The one thing that's tough about living out here in the boonies is that I actually have a great little controller that'd do awesome things with Christmas lights, but no place to string 'em where they'd be visible.