Dior apologizes to China for Stone
Christian Dior is making some high-profile apologies to China after actress Sharon Stone made comments about the earthquake in Sichuan. Stephen Beard reports why the red-carpet gaffe is causing red faces.
U.S. actress Sharon Stone (Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images)
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Renita Jablonski: Christian Dior is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. Shares slipped a bit today as the high-end company is making some high-profile apologies to China. You may have heard about Sharon Stone making some comments about the earthquake in Sichuan. The red-carpet gaffe is causing plenty of red faces at Dior because Stone is a Dior model. Stephen Beard has more.
Stephen Beard: Sharon Stone had suggested the Sichaun earthquake was the result of bad karma. She implied the Chinese were being punished over Tibet. The remark provoked outrage in China.
And Christian Dior is bearing the brunt. The company uses the Hollywood Actress as the face of its Capture Totale skincare line. Its Chinese headquarters has been indundated with complaints.
The company has now dropped Stone from its Chinese ads and has apologised profusely. And so has she.
Geoff Dyer of the Financial Times in Beijing says Dior is clearly worried:
Geoff Dyer: Like a lot of luxury groups Christian Dior have invested heavily in China. They now have over 60 stores here. So it is very important for them not to alienate lots of Chinese customers.
The Chinese are touchy. Pro-Tibetan demonstrations during the Olympic torch relay in Paris led to a call for a boycott against all French goods.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
Comments
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From GZ China, 05/29/2008
This commment is stupid. If this is a karma, what cause the karma of 911 and Hurricane Katrina? With this comment Sharon's life is also ended in China.
From CA, 05/29/2008
“…then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma? When you’re not nice that the bad things happen to you?” Does this not strike you as a rather childish and naive sounding comment?
Of course, this idea of karma as a moral mechanism is rather common, even if incorrect. Karma is simply cause and effect. This is judgement, even if phrased in the form of a question. How many of those who died and have loved ones who died directly contributed to the current regime in China and their treatment of the Tibetans?
Whereas most people think there is good karma that is preferrable over bad, the whole point is to transcend karma so history do not repeat itself. This kind of understanding based on the logic of “an eye for an eye” not only confuses the idea but is itself karmic in the worst sense and only serves to perpetuate the polarized cycle of blame.
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