Liuzhou Weather
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Danwei Model Worker Award
Minority Stamps
Ronaldo's Sore Throat
They are pretty good. I have a packet in front of me!
Since 2003, the lozenges have beeen heavily advertised using images of Brazilian football player, Ronaldo. Adverts appear all over Liuzhou, but also in other cities throughout China. There has also been considerable television advertising, both locally and nationally.
Well, clearly I don't know, but it seems to me that Ronaldo's suit may be difficult to win - not so much because of the lengthy delay in beginning proceedings, but more because of the way China's judiciary works.
The Golden Throat factory in central Liuzhou is protected by three statues of ancient medics, but more useful in a country where the judiciary is not independent and court decisions are handed to the person with the most "gaunxi" or "connections" is the fact that the company President, Ms Jiang Peizhen is also a member of the Political Consultative Conference of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, theoretically the region's highest political body, and also a delegate of the Conference of Representatives of Chinese Communists in Liuzhou City. She has won numerous awards and is seen as a symbol of how the ever-loving Party treats women equally. In other words, she has powerful friends. Judges follow what the Party tells them to do.Some confidence or defiance is shown on their website, where despite the story breaking, Ronaldo is still on display, still urging you to protect your throat with Golden Throat Lozenges.
Should Renaldo win, they may have to change to making headache pills rather than throat lozenges!
There are more details here.
I stayed at the Golden Throat Hotel in Guilin in 2004. It was very nice,
and at night on the pillow was my own golden throat candy.
If my company could choose any footballer as a spokesperson without fear of
consequence, I'd be afraid to use Ronaldo for fear people might think my
product causes weight gain. Of course Ronaldihno would be out; I wouldn't
want potential consumers to worry about the need for orthodontic work, as
would be Zidane (Lozenge Rage).
If I decided consumers didn't mind being turned into complete assholes I'd
choose Wayne Rooney.
Since I first read this blog entry, I have been keeping an eye on all the
different photos they have of Ronaldo and what it would have taken
(technically) to pull this off. Just a couple days ago, I saw one photo
that was the real kicker: it was Ronaldo with his arm around the Golden
Throat lady you have in the photo above! I saw it on a calendar. Next time
I am in Liuzhou, I will most definitely do my best to go back there and
take a photo...unless you can find the recent Golden Throat 2007 calendar
(just a little thing, really).
