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Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images

How Mel Gibson's usury turned a Latina entrepreneur into the 'queen bee'

After the lawyers' threats, "Miel Gibson" had to dispense with the actor's image. But this brave bee has already become a symbol of resistance. 

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Fame can have a sweet tooth. More than that: it can be greedy, petty and rusty to absurd limits! But where compassion doesn't reach, imagination does, and Chilean Yohana Agurto has amply proven that bees are not only essential for the survival of the planet, but also for an individual's in spite of Hollywood's inflated egos. 

The controversy has been 'stinging' the media for several weeks:

An unemployed single mother who had been in quarantine for four months decided to start a business selling honey with a fun and seemingly harmless marketing strategy.

Playing with Mel Gibson's name, she named her product "Miel Gibson" ('miel' is the Spanish word for "honey") and thought, candidly, of using the image of the actor characterized as William Wallace in Braveheart to launch the slogan: "Our honey is only for brave hearts."

Agurto's surprise was great when she received an email from Gibson's lawyers threatening to take legal action against her if she did not remove his "unauthorized" face from the product. 

The businesswoman's plea on social media for Gibson to allow them to use his image didn't soften the star's heart, but it turned the story of this Chilean's survival and entrepreneurship into a viral one that profiled Gibson as a textbook villain: someone totally oblivious to the miseries and difficulties of others.

"Permission must be obtained to use or duplicate a still photo from a film, which is the property of the respective studio that released it," Gibson's lawyer, Leigh Brecheen, told Reuters. "None of this is intended to prevent anyone from making an income or starting a business, but there are proper channels of contact and authorizations that must be passed to ensure that we have approval for such use."

The company was able to continue to maintain the name 'Gibson Honey' and wisely used the controversy to be as sweet as it was resilient in the face of adversity.

"Without you nothing would have been possible," the company thanked their many supporters on Instagram. "We can only say that we are full of love and more convinced than ever that Miel Gibson is only for the brave."

A story with a happy ending

A few weeks ago, during the product launch, Yohanna Agurto announced the change of logo and image of her honey:

The place on Gibson's face, which by the way has nothing to do with the Scottish warrior who fought against British oppression, would be occupied by a brave bee, with its fist raised like a true soldier insect inspiring its consumers to keep going despite the innumerable and bitter obstacles that life puts in front of them. 

"Habemus logo! We want to present our new image, the one that will accompany us during this long and sweet life of Miel Gibson. They say 'the strength of a warrior depends on the size of his heart'", the company announced on Instagram.

Because, as Wallace said in Braveheart: "They can take our lives, but they will never take..." the honey!
 

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