Fiat: On Thin Ice With China Over Ads Starring Actor Richard Gere
By Michelle Krebs June 23, 2008Italian automaker Fiat may be on thin ice with China despite its apology Friday for its new television commercial that includes scenes of Tibet and actor Richard Gere, a well-known outspoken critic of China and its policies toward Tibet.
The advertisement promotes the Lancia brand and aired on prime-time Italian television during the European soccer championship last week. It shows Gere driving the new Lancia Delta, aimed at building the underperforming franchise outside Italy, from Hollywood through Tibetan scenery, arriving at the former residence of the Dalai Lama, who has been in exile since 1959.
The Financial Times points out that "the Tibet flap does not bode well for Fiat's business in China, where it has a joint venture with local producer Chery Automobile to build 175,000 of its own-brand and Alfa Romeo cars in China from next year." Chery also has a partnership with Chrysler.
Fiat issued an official apology to China Friday saying: "Fiat reiterates its neutrality in connection with any political matter, be it on a national or international basis."
Neverthless, Fiat plans to continue to air the ads in Europe and expressed support for Gere, chosen for the ads "because he is a symbol of difference." It's no secret that Gere has been a vocal supporter of Tibet for more than two decades. In April, before the latest government crackdown on anti-Chinese protests, Gere testified to a U.S. Senate committee on what he described as "the brutal repression and calculated efforts to control religious practice and attack the very foundations of the Tibetan religious, cultural, and ethnic identity."
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