Mikhail Gorbachev in pop culture

The late Mikhail Gorbachev was an approachable politician, which also made him popular and well-known – in addition to his historical role in the turnaround: a pattern that is still rather unusual for Russian politicians today.

A lavish party was held in London’s Royal Albert Hall for his 80th birthday in 2011. Movie stars like Kevin Spacey and Sharon Stone hosted the evening organized by Gorbachev’s daughter. Musician Bryan Ferry, ex-actor and ex-US governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and actress Milla Jovovich, who was born in Kyiv, also honored themselves. While controversial in the East, the only and last President of the USSR had almost pop-star status in the West.

A Nobel Peace Prize winner with a Grammy

In truth, Mikhail Gorbachev was not a pop star, even though he received a Grammy for the voice recording of Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” in 2005 – together with Bill Clinton and Sophia Loren, who were also involved.

After his active career as a politician, Gorbachev appeared – to the astonishment of many observers – as an advertising medium. His clip for the American grocery chain “Pizza Hut” wrote advertising history and was broadcast worldwide – except in Russia.

Advertising revenue for a good cause

After it was clear that there would be no political comeback in Russia, Gorbachev committed himself to saving the earth ecologically and founded the environmental protection organization “International Green Cross”. However, public interest in him was more about his person and historical significance than about his concerns beyond the political arena. So he used his popularity for lucrative advertising appearances like that for “Pizza Hut” in 1997. “I had financing problems with my foundation, so I did an advertisement for ‘Pizza Hut’,” Gorbachev explained in retrospect in a 2007 interview with “France 24”.

Regular TV guest

It wasn’t the only promotional event: Gorbachev opened a combined heat and power plant in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, he advertised for the computer manufacturer “Apple” and collected in the well-known German show format “Wetten dass…!” at Thomas Gottschalk money for a leukemia foundation that bears the name of his wife Raissa, who died of cancer in 1999.

In a campaign for the French fashion manufacturer Louis Vuitton, Gorbachev stood in front of the camera again in 2007, this time in front of that of Annie Leibovitz: While Catherine Deneuve posed in the artificial fog and Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf snuggled up in bed in love, Gorbachev was allowed to do it again as a pioneer of German unity driving along the Berlin Wall in the back seat of a limousine; with the said manufacturer’s bag next to him.

But then some took a closer look: if you zoom in on the picture, you can see a cover of the magazine “New Times”, a liberal weekly newspaper critical of Putin, in the bag. In Russian, the headline reads May 28, 2007: “Litvinenko’s Killer: Suspect Should Be Freed for $7,000”

Reference to spectacular murder case

The title refers to the case of Alexander Litvinenko, a prominent critic of Putin, who was poisoned. Shortly before his death, he accused Vladimir Putin of being responsible for his assassination. The suspect mentioned above was Andrei Lugovoi, who was wanted by the British authorities. Russia refused to extradite him. Today Lugowoi is a member of the Duma and works internationally as a businessman in the field of private security services.

After the title became known, speculation began on the internet: did the advertisement contain a hidden comment? Louis Vuitton and the agency commissioned with the advertising, Ogilvy & Mather, quickly denied this. The cover was chosen at random to give the scene more authenticity.

A place in the history books – also of punk rock and film

Last but not least, Mikhail Gorbachev was immortalized in a rap by the German punk Nina Hagen, who rhymed admonishingly in 1989:

“Mikhail, Mikhail (…)
Stay smart and stay smart
Stay kid and be a man
and be brave like a woman
Otherwise there were cannons instead of butter – now there is freedom instead of butter”

The Germans in particular maintained a warm relationship with “Gorbi” after reunification. The German filmmaker Werner Herzog paid tribute to him with the documentary “Meeting Gorbachev” in 2018. At this point, Gorbachev was already struggling with health problems. Still, he was crystal clear about what was happening in his country: how Putin’s increasingly authoritarian regime was sweeping away the democratic reforms in Russia that Gorbachev had wanted to enshrine.

This melancholy becomes palpable in one of the film’s dialogues. Herzog asks him, “I would like to know what you would like inscribed on your tombstone?” Gorbachev pauses for a moment, then replies, “We tried.”