Gorby Goes Louis

Photo: AP

Mikhail Gorbachev is appearing in a Louis Vuitton international print advertising campaign.

The photo was taken by Annie Leibovitz and features 'Gorby' sitting in the back seat of a Soviet era limousine, Vuitton luggage bag beside him, with the Berlin Wall seen through the car windows in the background.

Commentary on this photo has been mixed with much talk about the former Soviet Leader's relationship with capitalism past and present.

Whether the campaign is aimed towards increasing the brand's male purchasing power or inroads into new markets in China and Russia it has certainly generated the attention it sought.

The composition of the photo; and all of the others in this campaign; doesn't have the celebrity looking at the camera and the Louis Vuitton product is not particularly prominent in the shot. Apparently this approach is to integrate the products into more 'lifelike' scenes.

I like the photo, so I will buy in and suspend my grip on reality for a moment, even though the entire scenario is anything but 'lifelike'. It seems that advertisers increasingly associate 'somber' as being synonymous with 'lifelike'. I am not here to nick pick though, so I'll leave it there.

Pietro Beccari, director of marketing at Louis Vuitton, said that Gorbachev was persuaded to participate in the campaign when Louis Vuitton made a donation to his environmental charity, Green Cross International, which is cited in the ad.

Being a child of the 80s I've always had an irrational fondness for Gorby, so regardless of the circumstances, it's nice to see him again.