Polémique suite aux propos de gouvernants italiens incl Rolex

Source : Bloomberg / By Dan Liefgreen

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Rolex Runs Ad Saying Italy’s Prime Minister Disparaged Its Image

(Bloomberg) — Rolex ran full-page newspaper ads in Italy saying the Italian government damaged its image by portraying the perpetrators of a violent protest as spoiled children whose parents could afford to buy them timepieces made by the luxury Swiss watchmaker. In an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, Gianpaolo Marini, the head of the luxury watchmaker’s Italian unit, said the Geneva-based company needed to “defend the brand’s reputation and image.” The ad appeared in at least six of Italy’s biggest dailies, including Il Sore 24 Ore and Corriere della Sera. A demonstration held in central Milan against the Expo Milano 2015 fair turned violent on Friday, with protesters torching parked cars, smashing shop windows and clashing with police. Renzi said the demonstrators were “hooligans with Rolexes” while Alfano called them “the usual thugs with hoods and daddy’s boys with Rolexes.”

The comments “produced the unacceptable association of Rolex’s image with the Milan devastation,” the Rolex executive said.
Neither Rolex nor Renzi’s spokesman had an immediate comment on the matter. Rolex is the biggest Swiss watch brand.