Viva la MerChedes - Scandal at CES

In a presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Daimler AG, the company that owns Merces-Benz managed to sully its relationship with a large swath of the Cuban-American buyer base.

Promoting a new Mercedes-Benz application called CarTogether, which using connected and social technology helps drivers carpool, to easily find compatible passengers to share rides with, Daimler executive Dieter Zetsche stood on stage before a big reproduced version of the famous photo - that became a symbol of communist revolutionary movements during the 1960s and ’70s - of Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara with the Mercedes’ three-pointed star corporate trademark emblazoned on the revolutionary’s beret in place of the communist red star symbol.

“Some colleagues still think that car-sharing borders on communism,” Zetsche reportedly said in his presentation. “But if that’s the case, viva la revolución!”

As the Miami Herald reported, the Cuban-American community “…expressed disgust that such a prestigious company would use the image of the revolutionary blamed for executions and implementation of communism on the island”.

Daimler AG, of course, quickly apologized, but it was too little, too late. Many Cuban Americans living in South Florida and other cities say they are not satisfied with the auto manufacturer’s explanation and plans to boycott Mercedes.

I think the story is not over yet…