Five Oddball Products Che Guevara's Face Is Slapped On

South Florida's Cuban community raised a bit of an uproar this week over Mercedes-Benz's decision to flash an image of Ernesto Guevara, AKA Che, during a presentation in Las Vegas.The company altered the iconic photo of the Argentine revolutionary so he was sporting the Mercedes logo on his beret. The...

By Chris Sweeney

January 13, 2012

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South Florida's Cuban community raised a bit of an uproar this week over Mercedes-Benz's decision to flash an image of Ernesto Guevara, AKA Che, during a presentation in Las Vegas.

The company altered the iconic photo of the Argentine revolutionary so he was sporting the Mercedes logo on his beret. The presentation, delivered at the Consumer Electronics Show, was meant to promote the company's CarTogether application, a social networking model to help car poolers link up. Things backfired, and now Daimler -- Mercedes' parent company -- is doling out apologies.

But a car-pool application is hardly the most egregious product line the revolutionary's face has been slapped across. Here, a look at five of the more notable consumer goods using Che's likeness.

Skateboards: Kickflip your way through the revolution with one of the many decks bearing Che's face. Some of these boards cost close to $100. Thanks, elitist skater pigs.

Bubble Bath: For all those guerrillas who don't want to end up stinking like gorillas, this oddly packaged bubble bath should do the trick. According to the Flickr page, this gem hails from New Zealand, which sort of explains why it's intended to look like booze.

Cigarettes: The preferred choice for pontificating undergrads who blow their parents' money hanging out at the student union all day. Not only can they lecture you on the evils of capitalism with one of these butts dangling from their lip; they can tell how additive-free cigarettes are "just like so much purer than any of that Philip Morris crap."

Hand-Painted Bobble Head: These days, it seems like any schmoe can get a bobble head. But the Che Store claims the "likeness and attention to detail of this collectible is remarkable," partly due to the fact that it's painted by hand. New worst job on Earth: painter of bobble heads.

"Dress" Shirt: OK -- there's nothing oddball about a shirt with Che's face plastered across it. There are millions of those things floating around the world. But throwing some buttons and a collar on a Che shirt is a terrible idea. You know there's some tool out there who thinks this is perfectly acceptable formal wear.

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