Just imagine for a moment if China or the DPRK had their leaders on mugs and t-shirts, selling tons of merch. Imagine how we would be presented with this as an example of how dystopian and awful they are.
I have a Mao shirt my wife bought me in China and a Mao sticker and a Mao pin. And she got me an og Little Red Book. But it’s not like Mao sold it to her.