A couple weeks ago Ziva posted about Human Rights Foundation CEO Thor Halvorssen's open letter to Ted Marlow, the CEO of Urban Outfitters, about the store's line of mass murderer Che Guevara merchandise. Now it looks as if Thor can claim a victory...

The defiant portrait of Che Guevara has long been used for merchandising by companies seeking to profit off of his rebellious image. But such attempts are increasingly being met with anger and outrage by groups who say Guevara was a murderous tyrant who shouldn’t be glorified.

The latest controversy played out after Urban Outfitters came out with a line that featured Guevara emblazoned over a Cuban flag, which led to an open letter from Thor Halvorssen, the founder of the Human Rights Foundation to Urban Outfitters CEO, Ted Marlow.

“As a nonprofit organization dedicated to the defense of human rights, we would like to bring your attention to Guevara’s bloody and anti-democratic legacy,” Halvorssen wrote on the Huffington Post.

“Although Guevara’s image has appeared on countless items for consumption over the last few decades as a symbol of change for the better, Guevara’s actual record is that of a brutal tyrant who suppressed individual freedom in Cuba and murdered those who challenged his worldview,” the letter stated.

Now it seems that Urban Outfitters has thought better of the merchandise, as previous links now say “We’re sorry. This product is no longer available.” But curiously, the pages are still up with the initial marketing language. [...]

Read in full...

For now, anyway...