Capitalism Conquers All

When you search "Che Guevara" on Google, one of the first hits is The Che Store. Along with its famous $17.99 t-shirts, they sell books, hats, key chains, and necklaces, all emblazoned with Che's image. Poor Che. His legacy is being used to fund an American company.
There's a Che-themed flavor of Ben & Jerry's (Cherry Guevara), "El Che" Cola, Che Guevara bobbleheads, and even Che cologne ("For those that want to smell like a revolutionary"). It is odd that those who idolize him the most, and try to "spread his message", are making money off of him.
As his family has made no great public statement regarding the use of Guevara for monetary gain, they obviously don't care. I wonder if Che would be enraged by all of this. Perhaps this is what he wanted all along...


I recently stumbled across this ad. Proclaiming, "Kerouac wore khakis", Gap hopes to sell their overpriced pants to the masses. This is ironic: Kerouac's fictional self, Sal Paradise, spends most of On the Road in unwashed ragged clothes. One of his central ideals was a lack of materialism. He believed that connections to anything- people, and ESPECIALLY possessions, simply tied you down. He's probably rolling in his grave right now.