The Power of Advertising

I don’t know whether to be appalled or fascinated by this image of Mikhail Gorbachev being used to advertise Louis Vuitton luggage. Well, OK, I’m appalled. It would be rather like seeing Nelson Mandela advertising smack and crack. Ah, alright, that’s been done, but then that was a joke. This Gorbachev image is not – and it stinks. The one saving grace might be the book, but even here the effect is of a post-ironic comment that robs the image of any real power. Ah, Gorby, that you have fallen so low!