The French automaker Citroën learned this week what billions of Chinese already know: Don't mess with Mao Zedong.
Citroën was forced to pull ads from several prominent Spanish newspapers, including El Pais, touting the company's new hatchback and featuring a computer-altered image of China's ruthless revolutionary, sporting a smirk.
Apparently, the Chinese were none to happy about this and, well, nobody wants to tick off the world's fastest-growing consumer market.
Ironically, the language of the Citroën ad struck a decidedly Maoist tone:
Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's. It's true, we are leaders, but at Citroën the revolution never stops. We are once more going to put in motion all the machinery of our technological ability, in order to repeat in 2008 the successes obtained in previous years."
Yes, and we will crush the weak, capitalist pigs. Needless to say, the company's apology was less bold: "Citroën expresses regret for any displeasure caused by the advertisement and apologizes to all who have been hurt by it." Mao surely would have been disappointed by such a display of weakness.
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