Mikhail Gorbachev and His Louis Vuitton Luggage

Posted on July 27, 2007

No, your eyes are not deceiving you: that really is the last Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union starring in a new ad for French luxury luggage and handbag maker, Louis Vuitton. So what in the world is Mikhail doing in a Louis Vuitton ad, in which we usually see actress Scarlett Johannson in a skimpy outfit? The New York Times explains the concept. They say the campaign emphasizes the company's heritage in luggage and travel accessories.

When he's not posing for fashion photographers, Gorby has been busy blasting the U.S.' "obsession with winning," which is destroying the world. Perhaps this quote has lost something in translation, because it doesn't seem like we've been "winning" much of anything lately. Certainly we're not winning the Iraq War, and the battle for hearts and minds desperately needs a new strategy.