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Rolex accuses Italian PM of damaging its image
The watchmaker accused Matteo Renzi of sullying its reputation by suggesting that the protestors in Milan were Rolex-wearing brats
The head of Rolex in Italy has accused Matteo Renzi, Italy’s prime minister, of sullying the watchmaker’s reputation after he suggested that protesters and vandals in Milan were spoilt Rolex-wearing brats.
In full page ads in major Italian newspapers on Wednesday, Gianpaolo Marini demanded an apology from Renzi and interior minister Angelino Alfano after both politicians seized on a photograph published in newspapers over the weekend that purported to show one of the masked anti-Expo protesters who vandalised Milan on Friday wearing a Rolex.
“I have to express my profound regret and disappointment for the association implied by your words – that there is a link between window-breakers and the fact of wearing a Rolex watch on your wrist,” Marini wrote.
No Expo col Rolex: FOTO Facebook. Figli di papà o infiltrati? (blitzquotidiano.it) http://t.co/dpfd8BdeIa pic.twitter.com/p8Dqk2n3hZ
— 1001portails Italia (@1001ptsIT) May 2, 2015He questioned the quality of the photograph and video, saying it was “highly improbable” that the watch could be identified as a Rolex, much less an authentic Rolex.
The photo of the supposed Rolex vandal was a convenient political symbol for Renzi and Alfano, who used the image to discredit the protests that erupted on the day of Expo’s highly anticipated opening on Friday.
Speaking in Bologna, Renzi thanked friends in his Democratic party for cleaning up Milan’s streets while “those with Rolexes were destroying the storefronts”. Alfano referred to the protesters as figli di papa (rich kids) in hoods who were intent on destroying Milan.
The protests were an embarrassing, though not an unexpected spectacle on Expo’s opening day. Renzi had repeatedly hailed the opening of the world fair as a great moment of pride for Italy, but his statements were overshadowed by the disruptions caused by the protests, in which a number of cars were set on fire and masked demonstrators threw stones at police in riot gear, broke windows, and spray-painted shop fronts.
