Pizza restaurant fined for giving colonial address
By Liang Yiwen |
March 3, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A PIZZA restaurant that gave its location as "the French Concession" has been fined 47,500 yuan (US$7,541) for violating China's advertising laws.
The recently opened branch of Pizza Marzano - part of the United Kingdom PizzaExpress chain - on Yongjia Road, Xuhui District, used the name of the former colonial concession in leaflets.
This hurt the feelings of Chinese people and violated China's advertising laws, the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said yesterday.
In a statement, the administration said the restaurant had evoked the bitter history of Shanghai under colonial control, which humiliated the public and went against mainstream values.
The controversy began when locals uploaded pictures of a bilingual leaflet that stated, "we are now open in the French Concession."
Restaurant management claimed the term is widely used by expats to describe the area and that no offence was meant.
However, many incensed locals called the restaurant to protest.
The pizzeria removed the controversial expression and apologized before the investigation concluded.
The French Concession existed from 1849 to 1943, covering Xuhui and the former Luwan District.
The recently opened branch of Pizza Marzano - part of the United Kingdom PizzaExpress chain - on Yongjia Road, Xuhui District, used the name of the former colonial concession in leaflets.
This hurt the feelings of Chinese people and violated China's advertising laws, the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said yesterday.
In a statement, the administration said the restaurant had evoked the bitter history of Shanghai under colonial control, which humiliated the public and went against mainstream values.
The controversy began when locals uploaded pictures of a bilingual leaflet that stated, "we are now open in the French Concession."
Restaurant management claimed the term is widely used by expats to describe the area and that no offence was meant.
However, many incensed locals called the restaurant to protest.
The pizzeria removed the controversial expression and apologized before the investigation concluded.
The French Concession existed from 1849 to 1943, covering Xuhui and the former Luwan District.
- 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.
