Related News
Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
False endorsements by celebrities can put them into a pickle
By Wu Jiayin |
March 23, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
INDIVIDUALS who advertise substandard food products in China will be liable to pay huge compensation after the Food Safety Law comes into effect June 1.
According to Wenhui Daily last Tuesday, Article 55 of the law states: "Social or other organizations and individuals shall bear joint and several liabilities with food producers and business operators when recommending food through false advertisements and thus causing damages to the lawful rights and interests of consumers.''
Well-intended as the stipulation is, it is unlikely to bring false advertisements to a stop.
Indeed, it is not uncommon to see celebrities endorse food products with extravagant praise.
Renowned actor Zhang Tielin endorsed a brand of pickled mustard tuber in a TV advertisement in 2007, saying even his great great grandfather found the food delicious.
Common sense tells us Zhang has no idea whether the old man liked the pickled tubers.
Zhang responded to criticism by saying that advertisements should be funny enough to attract consumers.
In another case, famous cross-talker Guo Degang was found to have falsely promoted a "magical Tibetan tea'' for weight loss in 2006.
"No big belly after three boxes of tea,'' Guo said. Wrong. Moreover, the product had nothing to do with Tibetan tea and its trademark had not been officially approved.
But Guo refused to apologize, even after local officials demanded the "magical'' tea be removed from medicine stores throughout Beijing.
Such celebrities who willfully cheat the public deserve punishment.
After all, celebrities, with their good image and fame, are likely to attract consumers to the products they endorse.
It is thus their responsibility to ensure that they are not making false claims.
But determining whether an advertisement is false can be difficult.
There is no clear definition of false advertisement in either the Food Safety Law or the Advertising Law, although the law bans false and deceptive advertising.
Today there are many so-called "functional'' foods that are said to have health-promoting or disease-preventing properties beyond the basic nutrition.
It is almost impossible for consumers to know if the food has the health benefits that are claimed, but presumably it does no harm.
As a result, even if the advertisements are dishonest, the endorsing individuals will not be punished. It is unrealistic to expect celebrities to judge the quality of products.
Take the Sanlu milk powder scandal involving melamine-tainted milk.
Years ago Sanlu products were endorsed separately by Deng Jie, a famous actress, and Ni Ping, a renowned anchor of China Central Television. They were pilloried by the public, but many consumers bought the products years after those endorsements.
Assigning blame to the celebrities in this case is unfair. After all, Sanlu Group Co has long been renowned and has all the necessary quality certifications. Deng said that she had checked all the documentation before endorsement.
Even if Deng and Ni should be held responsible, what about the relevant government departments that issued the qualification certificates? What about the media that broadcast the advertisements?
According to Wenhui Daily last Tuesday, Article 55 of the law states: "Social or other organizations and individuals shall bear joint and several liabilities with food producers and business operators when recommending food through false advertisements and thus causing damages to the lawful rights and interests of consumers.''
Well-intended as the stipulation is, it is unlikely to bring false advertisements to a stop.
Indeed, it is not uncommon to see celebrities endorse food products with extravagant praise.
Renowned actor Zhang Tielin endorsed a brand of pickled mustard tuber in a TV advertisement in 2007, saying even his great great grandfather found the food delicious.
Common sense tells us Zhang has no idea whether the old man liked the pickled tubers.
Zhang responded to criticism by saying that advertisements should be funny enough to attract consumers.
In another case, famous cross-talker Guo Degang was found to have falsely promoted a "magical Tibetan tea'' for weight loss in 2006.
"No big belly after three boxes of tea,'' Guo said. Wrong. Moreover, the product had nothing to do with Tibetan tea and its trademark had not been officially approved.
But Guo refused to apologize, even after local officials demanded the "magical'' tea be removed from medicine stores throughout Beijing.
Such celebrities who willfully cheat the public deserve punishment.
After all, celebrities, with their good image and fame, are likely to attract consumers to the products they endorse.
It is thus their responsibility to ensure that they are not making false claims.
But determining whether an advertisement is false can be difficult.
There is no clear definition of false advertisement in either the Food Safety Law or the Advertising Law, although the law bans false and deceptive advertising.
Today there are many so-called "functional'' foods that are said to have health-promoting or disease-preventing properties beyond the basic nutrition.
It is almost impossible for consumers to know if the food has the health benefits that are claimed, but presumably it does no harm.
As a result, even if the advertisements are dishonest, the endorsing individuals will not be punished. It is unrealistic to expect celebrities to judge the quality of products.
Take the Sanlu milk powder scandal involving melamine-tainted milk.
Years ago Sanlu products were endorsed separately by Deng Jie, a famous actress, and Ni Ping, a renowned anchor of China Central Television. They were pilloried by the public, but many consumers bought the products years after those endorsements.
Assigning blame to the celebrities in this case is unfair. After all, Sanlu Group Co has long been renowned and has all the necessary quality certifications. Deng said that she had checked all the documentation before endorsement.
Even if Deng and Ni should be held responsible, what about the relevant government departments that issued the qualification certificates? What about the media that broadcast the advertisements?
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
