A Fortune magazine cover depicting Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos resembling Hindu god Vishnu has evoked strong reactions from the Hindu community based in United States. They have accused the magazine of “trivialisation of their venerated deity,” and it resulted in the magazine’s editor tendering an apology.
The cover was created by Sydney-based illustrator Nigel Buchanan whose clients also include The Wall Street Journal, MTV and New York Times.
According to Hindustan Times, the January issue of the magazine’s international edition features a story about Amazon’s expansion in India titled ‘Amazon Invades India.’
The piece talks about how Bezos “aims to conquer the next trillion-dollar market” is preceded by an illustration of the Amazon CEO striking a customary form of Vishnu on the cover.
“Lord Vishnu is a highly revered major deity in Hinduism meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be used indecorously or thrown around loosely in reimagined versions for dramatic effects,” Nevada-based Hindu statesman Rajan Zed wrote in a statement emailed to Hindustan Times.
Twitter was abuzz with criticism:
#Fortune‘s Jan 1 intl ed cover juxtaposes #Amazon CEO #JeffBezos as likeness of #LordVishnu, trivializes our venerated deity & is upsetting.
— Rajan Zed (@rajanzed) January 12, 2016
Ok, cool @FortuneMagazine now do one with Bezos as Jesus in honor of Black Friday? pic.twitter.com/deJ6fmhFCC
— Anil Dash (@anildash) January 9, 2016
Thing is, I don’t care about some “sacrilege”. What I detest is the evidence that no PoC at Fortune has enough power to stop this idiocy.
— Anil Dash (@anildash) January 9, 2016
#fortune #india pls apologise for this stupid cover – not cool- Indians should boycott the magazine pic.twitter.com/FyVdVcgXxC
— lavmelval (@LValiram) December 31, 2015
@anildash the worst part is @FortuneMagazine must know it’s in bad taste (at best) and is purposely doing this for clicks.
— One Hot Mess AK (@libbybakalar) January 9, 2016
But there were some who laughed it off:
If #JeffBezos is #Vishnu then what are the #Bansals? #amazonindia #flipkart #amazon #fortune #magazine cover pic.twitter.com/X15cVGs83w
— Siddhartha M Jain (@irocksid) January 13, 2016
HOW DARE they show Jeff Bezos as Lord Vishnu!?!Only Swapnil Joshi is allowed to be (many) Indian Gods.
— Akshar (@AksharPathak) January 13, 2016
@anildash I think these magazines *are* totally willing to be sacrilegious with Christian imagery too. pic.twitter.com/5y0OGEoYkt
— Patrick Collison (@patrickc) January 9, 2016
And then came the apology by the editor
Fair point, Anil. Apologies to those offended. @anildash
— Alan Murray (@alansmurray) January 10, 2016
Feature image source: Twitter/Reuters