Gorbachev Louis Vuitton Ad Hides Sinister Secret MessagePerhaps you’ve seen a memorable Louis Vuitton ad in the back of New York and other magazines: a pensive Mikhail Gorbachev being driven in a limo past the remains of the Berlin Wall, his only companion a trusty piece of LV luggage with some reading material sticking out. Well, we just now happened to take a closer look at that material, and Ho … lee … crap. It’s a Russian book or magazine, strategically posed so that the title is upside-down but readable: “Litvinenko’s Murder — They Wanted to Give Up a Suspect for $7,000.” Litvinenko, of course, is the Russian ex-spy whose death — by polonium-laced sushi — has been widely attributed to Putin’s goons. We have no idea what the business with the $7,000 is (maybe it’s the price of the bag?), and nor do we want to know! The very fact of Litvinenko’s name in the middle of the meticulously composed Annie Leibovitz shot is enough of a jaw-dropper. Is Gorby sending the world secret messages through luggage ads? —Michael Idov
