Material incentives

On the heels of Benicio Del Toro's best actor win at Cannes for his portrayal of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, two of Che's children have begun to speak out over the commercialization of their father's likeness according to the Guardian. Rather than protest the film - in fact the son, Camilo, said he welcomed the film as long as it was faithful to his father's memory - they took issue with the idea of the image of "a man who fought and died trying to overthrow capitalism and material excess should [being] used to sell British vodka, French fizzy drinks and Swiss mobile phones, among other travesties."

This has been a long time coming as Guevara's image has been popular as a symbol of counterculture and on college campuses for decades, even while the companies that produce the t-shirts, hats, posters, etc. specifically from the photo taken by Alberto Korda in Havana in 1960 are using the image for capitalist gains.

But, that's to be expected. Corporations are concerned with bottom lines and profitability, and - just like Nike co-opting Saul Williams' List of Demands (an anti-corporate screed by any account) for a shoe commercial - it's not uncommon for words and images to be used to promote the exact opposite of what they were meant to stand for.

Hopefully, even if a kid hasn't read or seen The Motorcycle Diaries, or could care less about Steven Soderbergh's new 2-part film, with Che's own children speaking out they'll begin to see the irony in flaunting the image on their chest as it's juxtaposed against their Chuck Taylors (since Converse is now owned by Nike), while sitting in Starbucks working on their MacBook.