Naomi Rousseau

A Turkey Votes For Christmas: one man's attempt to profit from the Zapatistas, and how it all went wrong.

On Tuesday, August 23rd I was reading the UK Indymedia website when I found a message from the Space Hijackers about Boxfresh, a shop in Covent Garden, and their new advertising campaign which consisted of graffiti using images of the Zapatistas and quotes from Subcommandante Marcos.Ê They were also selling Zapatista kits for £30, which apparently contained a t-shirt, a CD and a can of spray paint. The Space Hijackers staged a protest outside the shop that afternoon, as I could not attend I tried to contact someone from Boxfresh to ask them a few questions.Ê Roger Wade, the owner of Boxfresh, was initially unable to come to the phone as he was dealing with the Space Hijackers' protest.Ê Eventually Boxfresh agreed to meet the Space Hijackers demands and donate the relevant profits to the Zapatistas.Ê For the full story have a look at their website (http://www.spacehijackers.co.uk). Some would say that means everything's ok but I felt that Roger deserved to be hounded a little more (and I'm sure I'm not the only one).Ê Below is a slightly edited version of the correspondence between myself and Roger.

My first email to Roger:

For the attention of Roger Wade

Yesterday I read on a website that your shop was using a quote from Subcommandante Marcos, images of the Zapatistas and the Zapatistas' name in your advertisements.Ê As one of the many people around the world who have been inspired by the Zapatistas' words and actions I was extremely angry to see them being co-opted by a company with aims diametrically opposed to them and used to flog some overpriced clothes in Covent Garden.Ê

I tried to send an email expressing my disgust, but found that your publicly advertised email addresses, which had by then been circulated on various political websites, were mysteriously not working and my emails were returned.Ê If I had been able to email you I would probably have left it at that, but as I couldn't I found out the number of the shop and gave them a call.Ê No one there was willing to talk to me, but they gave me the phone number of your head office.Ê I phoned head office several times that day and was not permitted to speak to anyone other than the poor receptionist who was unable to answer any of my questions.Ê As she couldn't or wouldn't tell me when you or Chris Cudahy (the two people she told me would be able to answer my questions) would be available I had to just keep phoning.Ê All this time I was thinking up more and more questions that I wanted to ask about what you thought you were doing trying to associate yourself with the Zapatistas.Ê As I didn't get to speak to anyone that day I had a whole night to write down my questions and discuss them with friends.Ê I phoned again at around ten o'clock on Wednesday morning and asked to speak to you.Ê I was told you were not available, I asked when would be a good time to phone you, the receptionist said she would find out when you were coming in, and then hung up on me.Ê I phoned back and negotiated my way through your phone system and miraculously ended up actually talking to Chris Cudahy.Ê

I am no expert on the Zapatistas so I did a little bit of research to make sure I wouldn't make a complete fool of myself.Ê Clearly I did not need to bother.Ê I said I was phoning about the use of the Zapatistas in your advertisements and Chris said 'You mean the Guardian thing?'.Ê I was at first confused by his response, but it became clear during our conversation that he, and perhaps you, only knew of the Zapatistas through one quote in the Guardian.Ê If you are going to exploit the Zapatistas to sell your clothes you could at least find out what they are fighting for, and what they believe.Ê Chris claimed that you thought the Zapatistas were similar to Boxfresh as your slogan is 'We Are You', and the Zapatista quote was similar.Ê You are quite wrong.Ê When the Zapatistas say you can be a Zapatista, or when others say 'we are all Zapatistas', this actually means something.Ê To me it means that someone who is inspired by the Zapatistas does not have to sit back and watch what is happening in Chiapas, wishing they could do something, perhaps sending money or letters of support (although they can send these things as well), anyone can be a Zapatista where they are right now.Ê This is the movement that you thought you could cynically exploit to make money, but being a Zapatista does not mean spending money in some Covent Garden clothes shop, however 'different', 'directional' and 'individual' you think your shop might be.Ê Being a Zapatista does involve understanding what their aims and methods are, who they are, who they are opposing, where they are going.Ê Some people understand this instinctively, some people read about it, then they talk to people, go to meetings, find out more, read more, go to demonstrations, get involved, try to change things.Ê Some people jump on the bandwagon and think they can increase their personal wealth by doing so, but we are not that stupid.Ê When Boxfresh say 'We Are You', we know they are not, and we know it really means 'Buy Our Clothes', because at the end of the day, that's what you are, a clothes shop in Covent Garden, not a chance to create a new world.Ê Does your arrogance know no bounds?

I asked Chris Cudahy some of the questions I had thought up, but without a lot of success.Ê One of the first questions was about whether your shop had branches in Chiapas, and whether people in Chiapas could afford your clothes.Ê He did not know what, who or where Chiapas was.Ê This implied to me that maybe he did not know a great deal about the Zapatistas, which is unfortunate as he seems to be the person who you have chosen to speak to the press about your advertising campaign.Ê I then asked him some questions about where your company fits into the global economic system that the Zapatistas are arguing and fighting against.Ê He was unwilling or unable to answer this question.Ê In fact he then asked me to fax or email my questions and hung up on me without giving me his fax number or his email address.

Poor Chris.Ê He doesn't know much about the Zapatistas at all if he thinks that their supporters would be put off by someone hanging up on them, or putting them on hold for twenty minutes (which was the next trick).ÊÊ I phoned back again and again until I got to talk to him and then asked for his email address, which he refused to give me (odd, as when I was talking to him the phone earlier he was quite keen that I email him rather than speak to him).Ê He said I would have to send a fax, which is not very convenient for me, and I confess to being surprised that a company such as your own does not use email. I told him I was not going to go away, and I would keep contacting Boxfresh until someone was willing to take responsibility for your campaign and answer my questions.Ê Perhaps you would be willing to do that.Ê If not, I suppose I'll just have to keep trying.

In what way are the aims of your company similar to those of the Zapatistas?

Who owns Boxfresh? Where are your clothes manufactured, by whom, and under what conditions?

Do you think that the Zapatistas would be happy to be associated with your shop?

Do you have branches in Chiapas?

Do you think people in Chiapas can afford your clothes?

Do you realise that people in Chiapas are poor and are kept poor and are dying because of the global economic system that your company is happy to be part of?

Do you give any of your profits to the Zapatistas?

Have you contacted them regarding your campaign, and if so are they happy about the arrangement?

Do you think it is showing respect for those Zapatistas who have died to use them to sell clothes and promote your brand?

Does Boxfresh profit from the labour of its employees?

Does Boxfresh enable people to freely elect their own administrative authorities?

Is Boxfresh fighting for work, land, shelter, food, health care, education, independence, freedom, democracy, justice and peace?

Is Boxfresh constructing a space for new political relationships?

Is Boxfresh struggling for democracy, liberty and justice?

Is Boxfresh opposed to neoliberalism?

What is Boxfresh's stance on land redistribution in Chiapas?Ê

On indigenous rights? On NAFTA? Would you take up arms for Boxfresh?Ê

Would you die for the Boxfresh brand?

Do you think that people who admire or support the Zapatistas will buy things from your shop because you use the Zapatistas to advertise your brand?

Roger's reply (spelling and grammar unchanged):

Thank you for letter. As you can imagine, we have received alot of letters regarding this issue. In fact we received so many emails it downed our server! Rather than addressing every point, could I ask you to read the our letter sent to Space Hijackers below ( the co-ordinators of the activity). Basically, the point of the campaign was not to sell clothes, but to raise awareness and funds for the Zapatista cause. We are pleased to have received your email because it has demonstrated that the campaign is succeeding and that people are becoming more aware of Marcos. Surely that is our common goal.

We apologise for any offence caused, and hope you understand our situation. R gds,

RE: OPEN LETTER TO SPACE HIJACKERS Thank you for meeting us today and for your letter. As discussed, the purpose of the campaign was not to sell clothes, but to make a statement about what we stand for. We are trying in the same way, as the Body Shop Esso campaign, to highlight a cause, and give it support through media exposure. Boxfresh is young independent label, run by young people, and we have always strived to buck the system. We regularly support graffiti artists, students and urban sports which are anti establishment. Most of our customers are students, and we know they feel strongly about these issues. We felt rather than running a silly campaign featuring some beautiful models, we would choose a subject, which our customers could relate to. We hoped that through the media exposure, we would highlight the Marcos campaign.

One of our designers came across the Zapatista struggle on his travels to Mexico. We researched more about him, including his article in the Guardian where he coincidentally quoted our slogan, " We are you", and we agreed with sentiments. We are you! He said:

" Further subjugating himself, Marcos says that he is not a leader to those who seek him out, but that his black mask is a mirror, reflecting each of their own struggles: that a Zapatista is anyone, anywhere fighting for injustice, that " We are you ". He once said Marcos is gay in San Francisco, black in South Africa, an Asian in Europe, a Chicano in San Ysidro, an anarchist in Spain, a Mayan Indian in the streets of San Cristobal, a Jew in Germany, a Gypsy in Poland, a Mohawk in Quebec, a pacifist in Bosnia, a single woman on the metro at 10pm, a peasant without land, a gang member in the slums, an unemployed worker, an unhappy student, and of course a Zapatista in the mountains"

But all of this is words, what we going to do. Firstly we are going to donate all the profits from the Zapatista kit to the Zapatista Support Group in the UK. We are going to allow our customers to find out more about Marcos through displaying the "Our Word is our weapon" book on Marcos. We are going to give link sites to relevant Zapatista sites. We are happy to display any other additional information on Zapatista.

We apologise for any offence caused. We are trying to help a worthy cause, by giving it media exposure. In addition we are now contributing financially to the Zapatista cause, and we welcome any other initiatives to give their cause further exposure.

Rgds,

Roger Wade, Owner, Boxfresh.

My next response:

I would still like to hear your replies to my questions, you and your employees have demonstrated a complete failure to understand what the Zapatistas are about, and I find it laughable that you claim you are not trying to sell clothes. If you are going to use the Zapatistas to sell products, something that they would not want you to do, I'm sure, then the least you could do is answer the legitimate questions raised by those who see your advertisements. However young, independent and urban you think you are, you are still part of the global capitalist system are you not? This is the very system that the Zapatistas say is responsible for what has happened in Chiapas (heard of Chiapas? Congratulations, Chris Cudahy hadn't until this morning, so much for promoting the Zapatista cause).

You are NOT me, and you certainly aren't the Zapatistas.

Roger's final email to me:

Naomi, I am sorry that you can't understand our point. We are not literally saying that we are you Marcos, we are saying as Marcos say, that we are you, any person fighting injustice anywhere. We are not saying we are anticapitalist, we are saying we are anti oppression by the mexican government against EZLN.

Anyway, as I said we did not mean to offend, we meant to use the media to bring attention to this matter, as the Body Shop has with the boycott Esso campaign. The organiser of the campaign were satisfied with our motives and solutions, when we met them, I am sorry you do not share their views.

Rgds, Roger Wade,

Ps. Chiapas is the name for the areas the native Mayans settled

I attempt to continue this enlightening dialogue:

Do you not realise that one of the reasons that the Zapatistas are an inspiration to people is that they have constantly said that it is not just about what is happening in Mexico? And a clothes shop is not fighting injustice. You still haven't told me where your clothes are made, by whom, and under what conditions and you have not addressed the issue the profits which you make from other people's labour.

And if you are not anti-capitalism I find it a little odd that you are promoting an anti-capitalist organisation in your shop.

One last email, after it becomes clear that Roger is not going to write:

Dear Roger,

I've noticed a deathly silence from you since I persisted in enquiring about where you clothes are made, by whom, and under what conditions.Ê Perhaps I've hit a sore point.Ê Could it be that your clothes are manufactured in a 'young, independent' sweatshop, while you 'fight injustice' in Covent Garden, and rake in the profits?Ê You say your company supports graffiti artists and urban sports, which are 'anti-establishment'.Ê Have you ever read the Baffler (http://www.thebaffler.org/)? Have a look, it's a really interesting journal, the reason I'm mentioning it is that they have spent years pointing out the way companies pose as 'anti-establishment' by jumping on whatever bandwagon the young middle class urban customers they wish to attract are currently riding on, while at the same time profiting from their exploitation of the poor people who they don't need to please because they don't have money to buy their products.ÊÊ Nike is a good example: cool pictures of young 'individual' peopleÊ skateboarding or something used to sell shoes made by children in Third World sweatshops.Ê The reason I reacted so strongly to your use of the Zapatistas was it was one of the worst examples of this phenomenon that I have seen all week.

Perhaps you do know where your clothes are made, and perhaps the workers are paid a what you consider to be a fair wage.Ê That's a good thing of course, but it still doesn't make you a Zapatista, and it still leaves a yawning chasm between your beliefs and theirs.Ê You say you are not anti-capitalist. Fair enough, if you believe that capitalism the best possible system, if you feel it is just, that it does not condemn a large percentage of the human race to live in poverty for their whole lives while a few people profit, that it is not rapidly using up resources and destroying the environment, that's your opinion, and you are entitled to it. I disagree with you, and I am convinced enough of my views to write these emails and faxes to you.Ê The thing is that you do not seem to be proud of your political convictions.Ê If you think capitalism is such a great system then why don't you promote it in your shop?Ê Why not spray paint pictures of George Bush combined with your logo?Ê Your views are closer to his than they are to those of Subcommandante Marcos.Ê Or why not stick a nice big picture of Margaret Thatcher in your shop?Ê Or, with your Latin American interests, how about a quote from Pinochet or Henry Kissenger, or a picture of Allende's body being thrown out of a plane.Ê That's what capitalism means to a lot of people in Latin America, that's why organisations like the Zapatistas exist.Ê The truth is, that images of capitalism don't sell clothes to students, even though capitalists profit from these sales.Ê I would love to think that people who admire the Zapatistas are not dumb enough to fall for your game.Ê This is not the 70s, and Marcos is not Che Guevara, I hope that activists have learned lessons from the past and will not let people like you take what you like from the anti-capitalist, anti-representation movement and use it to make money, while discarding the beliefs behind the images and the carefully selected quotes.Ê I'm probably being too optimistic.Ê We'll probably lose, and you'll probably win, but at least I know whose side I'm on, and why.

On Friday 24th August an accomplice went to Boxfresh to see if they were keeping their promises of providing information about the Zapatistas, and how successfully it was being done. He was instructed to say that he was not interested in buying any clothes, he just wanted to find out about the Zapatistas.Ê Below is a transcript of his conversation with an enthusiastic shop assistant who seemed to have be recently briefed about the Zapatistas. I suspect that they have had many such visitors and are therefore on their guard. Delinquent: Alright mate. So what's this Zapatista stuff about then, what does it mean? Shop Assistant: Oh yeah, they're like these people, yeah, they're like fighting against the Mexican government, and there's like this guy Sub Commando who's their leader and he wears a mask and doesn't show his face and that, and Boxfresh are like supporting them by using, like, their logo and that coz that's what they say "we are you".

D: So what, they're like terrorists you mean?

SA: Nah, nah, they're not terrorists, they're good, coz like they just use, like words and that, like, they say like that words are weapons.Ê It's like they're at war but not at war you know?

D: So they're not violent then?

SA: No, no. [This suggests that while the shop assistant has read the title of the book, which is quite difficult as some of it is on the back cover, he has not gone so far as to look at the pictures, several of which show Zapatistas holding guns. This does not make them a violent organisation, but suggests that they do not embrace the principle of non-violence.]

D: So why are they against the Mexican government.

SA: Well . . . uh . . . well you know . . . um . . .Ê they just tell them when to eat, shit and sleep basically.Ê Like in Africa and that.Ê We actually had some problems for the last couple of weeks and that with like people who didn't know, coz like we're selling these kits for £30 but £10 is going to the Zapatistas and that, but some people didn't know, but that's all calmed down now.Ê

D: And they had a problem with you using the Zapatistas to sell clothes?

SA:Ê Yeah, yeah coz they didn't really understand where we were coming from, they didn't know we were giving them money and that, they thought we were taking the piss.

D:Ê Ah well, some people are funny like that.Ê So what does it actually mean then, the word Zapatista?Ê Is it Spanish or something?

SA:Ê Nah, nah, it's not Spanish, it's Mexican.

D:Ê Oh right. SA:Ê I'm not sure what it means you know. I'm sure it means something. That's quite interesting actually. I wonder what it means.

D:Ê Maybe there's like a website or something.

SA: Yeah there must be, hang on a sec . . . (ruffles papers under counter), um, probably do a search or something.

D:Ê Good idea, thanks for telling me about that anyway, that's really interesting.

SA:Ê No problem mate, see you later.

D:Ê Laters mate. As Delinquent walks out the door:

SA:Ê Oh mate, if you find out what Zapatista means pop in and tell me, if you're in the area and that.

D:Ê Will do, see you later. Delinquent adds: A list of questions were prepared but once the ignorance of matey boy was established i.e. after the first question, it seemed pointless to start asking about the finer details of the situation.

Appendix: A couple of glaring errors that I didn't even bother to point out:

1. Roger refers to the Zapatistas as 'the Marcos campaign', to Our Word Is Our Weapon as 'a book on Marcos' and 'our common goal' as 'making people aware of Marcos', when Marcos himself would rather people concentrated on the Zapatistas, rather than creating a personality cult, as Roger would know if he had read any of the book.

2. Roger thinks that Subcommandante Marcos wrote an article about himself in the Guardian (see his open letter).Ê

3. Roger seems unaware that anyone could have a problem with the Body Shop, or with their boycott Esso campaign.Ê What are we supposed to do, support a nice oil company, like Shell?Ê People support organisations such as the Zapatistas because they have worked out that you can't change things by favouring one multinational over another.Ê

4. Roger is also unaware that anyone could find the Boxfresh slogan, We Are You, a little bit annoying in itself.

5. The Zapatistas are being grossly misrepresented by Boxfresh shop assistants who know less than nothing about them.Ê Not only are there no computers with Zapatista websites, they seem unaware that there are Zapatista websites, when a simple search brings up 111 000 sites, 38 400 of them in English.Ê

6. The Boxfresh website still makes no mention of the Zapatistas.

7. Boxfresh claim that they are giving the profits from their 'Zapatista kits' to theÊÊÊÊÊÊ Zapatista support group.Ê According to the shop assistant this is £10 per pack, which doesn't seem much profit from selling a t-shirt, a CD and a can of spray paint for £30.Ê Maybe it comes in a really nice box.

8. Roger's complete inability to understand the first thing about the Zapatistas is eloquently summed up in his last email to me:

"We are not literally saying that we are you Marcos, we are saying as Marcos say, that we are you, any person fighting injustice anywhere. We are not saying we are anticapitalist, we are saying we are anti oppression by the mexican government against EZLN."

So, they are supporting any person fighting injustice as long as they do not see capitalism as injustice, as the Zapatistas do, and as long as 'anywhere' means only Mexico.

He could have found many groups in Europe who have the same aims as the Zapatistas, he could in fact have stood outside his shop on May Day and handed out cash to demonstrators, but of course he only supports radical politics if a) it's photogenic and exotic and b) it's a very long way away from his shop.