Response to Zazzle Inc. on misuse of coat of arms December 7, 2010
Mr Michael Karns
Zazzle.com Inc.
Redwood City, California
USA
(650) 261-3337
mkarns@zazzle.com
Cc: Lawrence Smalheiser
Trainer Communications
(925) 271-8211
zazzle@trainercomm.com
zazzle@zazzle.co.uk
development@zazzle.co.uk
Dear Mr Karns,
I am writing to protest in the strongest terms about your company's offensive misuse of the Cambodian coat of arms.
On the Zazzle website, you are currently offering your customers this revered emblem as one of the designs they can choose to appear on a pair of Pro-Keds Hi-Top shoes. This is completely unacceptable. Depicting the Cambodian coat of arms on any sort of footwear is regarded in my country as beeing deeply insulting to the King, the Government and the Cambodian people and has prompted considerable anger and offence.
It's similar, I would suggest, to the reaction one might expect in the United Stated if the the U.S flag was burned or otherwise besmirched.
While I am prepared to accept that this mistake was made inadvertently and that your company did not realise what great damage would be caused, now that you have been aware of the seriousness of the situation, I would insist that you immediately withdraw this item from sale.
I would also wish to see the cacellation of any orders already taken for this design and for your company to give an undertaking that it will refrain from misusing the Cambodian coat of arms at any time in the future. Indeed, Cambodian law prohibits the unauthorized use of the Cambodian flag and Cambodian coat of arms for business purposes and any further infringement could see your company subjected to public prosecution.
0 comments:
Post a Comment