A Sea Of Red

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/b ... diors.html

Christian Dior's China Earthquake
Posted by: Carol Matlack on May 29

Using celebrities for advertising has always been a risky proposition. Remember when supermodel Kate Moss, then the “face” of Chanel, was caught on a 2005 videotape sniffing a white powder that was definitely not body talc? Or Michael Vick, the former NFL quarterback whose advertising contract with Nike went up in smoke after his arrest and conviction last year for running a dogfighting ring?

Now Sharon Stone has landed Christian Dior in the deepest pile yet of…well, judge for yourself. In an interview last week at the Cannes film festival, the actress who regularly appears in Dior cosmetics ads suggested that the recent Chinese earthquake was “karma,” punishment of China for its mistreatment of Tibet. To the horror of Dior’s parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a video of Stone’s remarks spread like wildfire through the Chinese blogosphere, prompting the official Xinhua news to declare her a “public enemy of all mankind.” On May 29, Dior announced it was dropping Stone from its Chinese advertising, while Stone issued a profuse apology and even promised to volunteer for earthquake relief work.

LVMH, the global No. 1 luxury group, which counts China as one of its most important markets, until now had largely managed to steer clear of the Tibet controversy. Last month, several Chinese stores owned by French retail chain Carrefour were hit by angry protests, in retaliation for pro-Tibet demonstrations that disrupted the Olympic torch relay in Paris.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had stoked the controversy by suggesting he might boycott the Olympic opening ceremony over the Tibet issue, managed to calm things down by sending a delegation to mend fences with the Chinese. LVMH, for its part, quietly cancelled an antique car rally that it had planned to hold in China at the end of May. Now, though, Stone has thrust the company right into the spotlight it hoped to avoid.

How bad could the damage be? Most likely, the furor will blow over pretty quickly. That's what happened with the Carrefour protests, which died down after official news outlets made clear that the government wasn’t eager for a fight with the French retailer, whose Chinese stores employ about 40,000 people. With crowds of Olympic tourists arriving soon, the government probably isn't eager to have protesters swarming through the swank shopping districts of Shanghai and other cities where LVMH peddles its wares.

But if anyone doubted it before, it's now clear that Chinese consumers have become a potent economic force, and global companies can no longer afford to ignore their political and cultural sensitivities.

This reminded me a lot of what happend to Doc although I'm not sure the context of what she was saying is the same

Sharon Stone Is a [*** Edit - Come on, dude. - Sly ***]. Thats all.

Basic Instinct was ok though!

Honestly, how is this different from people saying 9/11 and Katrina was because of America allowing gays, etc? It's not getting nearly the negative reaction that those comments did, probably because she's not a preacher.

well for starters, Karma is a concept pulled from Eastern religions like Hindu and Buddhism. From a Christian's perspective, that immediately makes it BS.

That's funny that China, through it's state-controlled press, can label someone "public enemy of all mankind". It's funny how China's pr machine thinks the rest of the world is as gullible as it keeps its own people.

LUconn wrote:well for starters, Karma is a concept pulled from Eastern religions like Hindu and Buddhism. From a Christian's perspective, that immediately makes it BS.

This guy disagrees...

Personally, I think that earthquakes and hurricanes like Katrina are just the results of living in a fallen world. I do not believe in labeling natural disasters as judgment from God upon a nation for something or "Karmic revenge" like Sharon Stone is advocating. Now, I do believe God does have a sense of humor and does intervene in nature sometimes...like making it rain when the mayor of Atlanta calls a prayer meeting or making the coldest day in New York City's history the same day that Al Gore delivers a speech on Global Warming.

Leave it to the Chinese government to be the only people who could take Sharon Stone seriously. That hasn't happened since Police Academy 4.

I really dont think these comments are that different then the 9/11 comments...but JF got crucified for it

Please tell me yall saw The Soup on E! where she held a Aids thing to try and make up for her comments...she is raising money and she's on the Mic and she asks P Diddy if he's in for $320 and he say's "I dont have 320 right now" and she said back "What the (heck) have you been spending it on...crack?" HAHAHHAHAHAHA

Joel says once the clip is finished "shes also available for birthdays, weddings, etc"

HAHA this woman is nuts

Saw it on 'The Soup' and laughed very hard. Weird lady.

i don't have time to sit around and watch E! all day.
sorry

JDUB wrote:i don't have time to sit around and watch E! all day.
sorry

the soup is the only thing on E worth watching...so you should make time to watch that...

Hold My Own wrote:I really dont think these comments are that different then the 9/11 comments...but JF got crucified for it

It's different, and I'm parsing words here, because the earthquake was a natural act (a so-called 'Act of God'). Those are rather unpredictable and arbitrary. A terrorist attack is an act by crazy humans. Those involved in the 9/11 attack were crazy humans, just none of them happened to be members of the groups JF cited as reasons for the why the attack occurred.

Sharon Stone blamed God for a God-event. JF blamed the gays & the ACLU for a radical-Muslim event.

Those of you that have read Macel’s book- do you feel any differently now about his comments post 9/11 than you did before you read the book?

I read the book on the bus to Savannah Friday. Really I think he knew what he wanted to say, but being as worn out as he was from the days following the attacks, I think he just wasnt totally ready for Pat Robertson to frame the question as he did. I do wish he had stuck to his guns though.

BJWilliams wrote: I do wish he had stuck to his guns though.

Why? He was wrong and he admitted as such.

He wasnt wrong though...bottom line is everything bad that happens to us is a result of our sin...it's plain and simple...that's why bad things happen...sin


He just shouldnt have used that as an example b/c it's such a close thing to many

Hold My Own wrote:He wasnt wrong though...bottom line is everything bad that happens to us is a result of our sin...it's plain and simple...that's why bad things happen...sin


He just shouldnt have used that as an example b/c it's such a close thing to many

but is it really any one sin that causes God to allow things to happen? I think that is where he was wrong in what he said...pointing is finger at just certain sinful acts and ignoring others...and he realized it and apologized. At least that is how I have always viewed that whole ordeal

I agree, he shouldnt have started to give examples...there isnt enough time in a day to list every sin that's the cause of Gods protection leaving us

And the can of worms has been opened.