On April 21, 2011, The International Herald Tribune published the cartoon (seen at the left or above depending on your web browser).
(Blog Note: It's wrong on so many levels. Not only is it offensive to Japan, but also to ugly little old apple vendors. I don't know if you noticed... but Snow White is asking the Evil Queen who is dressed up as an ugly old woman a question that implies that it's NOT the apple that has her worried, but that perhaps the ugliness of the woman was caused by nuclear radiation IF she was from Japan. If it was meant that Snow White was asking about the apple - then the cartoon was written wrong - and should have asked 'Is this apple from Japan?' It's still a poor social commentary, however.)
The New York Times, which owns the International Herald Tribune said on April 25 in it's Editor's Note section that the cartoon "was offensive to the Japanese and others" and that "its selection was a lapse in judgment, which we regret."
The Japanese Consulate General in New York lodged a protest Thursday with the New York Times for publishing the cartoon, saying it may stir up unfounded anxieties over the safety of food from Japan.
Bravo.
Somewhere on an soapbox,
Andrew Joseph
PS: You realize that the Japanese Consulate General missed the poor joke... it really isn't about the apple - it's about radiation disfiguring a person! That's the way it was written!
