IKEA Russia Deletes Pussy Riot-Style Competition Photo From Site
23 September 2012
The Moscow Times
IKEA Russia
The picture IKEA Russia deleted from its online photo gallery that features youths wearing Pussy Riot-style balaclavas.
One month into a customer competition to select the cover for its next catalog, IKEA Russia deleted a picture on its website featuring masked youths wearing Pussy Riot-style balaclavas.
The photograph, taken by a user called Starovoitova from the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, was the most popular in this week's IKEA photo gallery at the time that the furniture giant deleted it from its site.
As of Sunday morning, the picture of four youths wearing multicolored masks and sitting on IKEA furnishings remained in first place. It has garnered more than 1,400 "likes" so far.
In place of the picture, visitors to IKEA Russia's site now see a statement that reads "IKEA is a commercial organization that operates independently of politics and religion."
"We cannot allow our advertising project to be used as a means of propaganda," the statement continued.
A Moscow court sentenced three members of anti-government punk band Pussy Riot to two-year jail terms in August for an obscene performance criticizing authorities in Moscow's main cathedral.
Police continue to search for other Pussy Riot rockers who evaded capture. A legal appeal against the three women's sentencing on hooliganism charges is due to be heard Oct. 1, when supporters plan to hold a worldwide rally.
International rights groups and celebrities have repeatedly called for the jailed band members' release.
