An accessory to what??
There was a time, in order to get noticed, everyone had to wear digital watches... Then came mobile phones. Those who could afford, drove around high performance open-tops.
If you had a new product, and had to draw attention of potential buyers, at one time, it had to be a female figure in one sort of pose or another.
Women's liberation has put brakes on that tendency to a great extent.
Now, Buddha is the symbol of intellect, taste, refinement, wealth and power, advertisements, and many others...
No merchandise (candles etc.) will not sell unless produced in the image of the Buddha.
No catalogue, home, playground, sex shop seems complete without a Buddha statue, or a picture.
Shops are full of signs of the current enlightened age, in the form of Buddha statues. While one culture decides to eliminate Buddhist symbols, a so-called counter culture, in the current context of fighting against terrorism, is going overboard. I am not claiming an action against reaction here. But, one could, if one is so inclined.
Many a Buddhist devotees are outraged at this commercialisation of a venerated symbol. As I type this I feel a bit uncomfortable in saying "outraged Buddhists", because it implies a contradiction.
The question: why only Buddha as a trademark? The immediate emotion that can evoke in a Buddhist is that the motivation behind all this is insult. If one sees it as an invitation to the intellect, well, then, I suppose it is acceptable.
Would this mean other religious symbols do not appeal to intellect? Dangerous ground here.
What a show of stupidity, Buddha might have commented... I mean on both sides.
But, in the final analysis, does it matter?
However, driven by whatever motive, Buddhist symbols are being invited to the houses. My wish is, such presence would invoke reflection on their own lives and bring some blessing to their lives. This could apply to both Buddhists and non-Buddhists, as Buddhists are as much "guilty" as others when it come to accumulating Buddhist symbols.
In this modern world, the purpose is the search for more: more of everything, Buddhism has nothing to offer. I mean to acquire tangible things. We pray to Buddha. We offer blessings of the Triple Gem (Buddha, Sangha and the Dhamma - His teachings).
Why? For what purpose?