Honolulu Advertiser, sept-3-2006
Miami-based Celebrity Cruises will no longer use a controversial advertisement depicting King Kamehameha's statue holding a glass of champagne to promote its cruises to Hawai'i, the company said yesterday.
The ad, which appeared in a recent issue of Travel Weekly, enraged Hawaiian groups and shocked local tourism officials.
"We are terribly sorry that we have offended anyone," said Lynn Martenstein, spokeswoman for Celebrity Cruises, a brand of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "We're horrified that we've been insensitive. ... It was never our intention. We have pulled the ad. It will never run again."
It was not clear yesterday if Celebrity's apology would satisfy those who were offended by the ad.
It's good that Celebrity is pulling the ad, but the company's apology should be as public as the ad was, said Ramsey Taum, community outreach director for the University of Hawai'i School of Travel Industry Management and contractor with the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association.
"To their credit, if they're going to pull it, then great, but the ultimate apology is going to be the same-size ad that they used in the publication as well as a local publication," he said. Travel Weekly is a trade publication for travel agents.
'Ilio'ulaokalani Coalition, a group of Hawaiian cultural practitioners, has scheduled a news conference Monday to publicly object to the ad.
"When I saw it, I was appalled to think that any company would have the audacity to use our culture in that fashion and especially our icon, King Kamehameha," said 'Ilio'ulaokalani executive director Wayne Kaho'onei Panoke, who said the ad offended non-Hawaiians as well.
"This has got to stop. Agencies like the Hawai'i Tourism Authority have got to assist us in stopping this kind of disrespect of our culture. ... We will no longer sit back and allow this kind of malice to happen to our culture. ... I know everybody wants business, but are we going to continue to bastardize our culture so that all these other companies can make millions of dollars?"
