Mo's daughter denies Nobel laureate endorsing cigarettes
By Saladin Xu |
December 20, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A FAMILY member of Nobel laureate Mo Yan yesterday denied online claims that the writer was endorsing a brand of expensive cigarettes.
His daughter, Guan Xiaoxiao, said on her microblog: "My father did not, does not, and will not endorse any tobacco products ever."
Mo's brother, Guan Moxin, said he had no knowledge of any commercial endorsement.
The tobacco company involved also denied that Mo had endorsed cigarettes that sell for more than 20,000 yuan (US$3,209) a carton.
And his publisher, Beijing Genuine and Profound Culture Development Co Ltd, added its voice to the denials, Xinhua news agency reported.
The responses followed a set of advertising posters which were posted online promoting "Limited Mo Yan Edition" cigarettes produced by China Tobacco Shandong Industrial Co, a subsidiary of China Tobacco.
The ads said the limited edition would be based on the company's high-end "Taishanfoguang" brand. Each cigarette would carry the title of one of Mo's books in Chinese characters.
One of the posters features the silhouette of a man smoking, believed to be Mo, while it quoted him as saying: "Actually I have only three cigarettes. I sent one to Sweden and another to hometown Gaomi. And I held the last one between my fingers to light up my inspiration."
The ads said the cigarettes would be sold in a "luxury rosewood package" and only 100 cartons would be produced.
A carton of such high-end cigarettes - 10 packs of 20 - would cost 20,120 yuan, compared to "normal" cigarettes at around 200 yuan per carton, the ads said.
The posters sparked heated discussion online with many people expressing shock that Mo was endorsing cigarettes.
The Shandong company published an announcement on its official website saying: "Our company has never authorized anyone or any company to design ads for "Limited Mo Yan Edition" cigarette products, and our company has not produced such products."
Despite the denial, tobacco control experts believe the company is behind the post and that its advertising purpose had been achieved.
Yang Gonghuan, deputy head of the Chinese Association for Tobacco Control, told Xinhua that the company may have turned to Mo for commercial endorsement only to be rejected.
"The company just released the failed endorsement information to make their products known by making use of Mo, a household name after he won the Nobel Prize," Yang was quoted as saying.
Although tobacco advertising is banned in China, tobacco companies use various ways to make their products known, such as donating money to schools, sponsoring health research and other, more obscure methods, Yang said.
China signed the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003.
Yang urged the government to better implement the framework and forbid tobacco companies' advertising in such ways.
Mo, meanwhile, could not be reached for comment.
His daughter, Guan Xiaoxiao, said on her microblog: "My father did not, does not, and will not endorse any tobacco products ever."
Mo's brother, Guan Moxin, said he had no knowledge of any commercial endorsement.
The tobacco company involved also denied that Mo had endorsed cigarettes that sell for more than 20,000 yuan (US$3,209) a carton.
And his publisher, Beijing Genuine and Profound Culture Development Co Ltd, added its voice to the denials, Xinhua news agency reported.
The responses followed a set of advertising posters which were posted online promoting "Limited Mo Yan Edition" cigarettes produced by China Tobacco Shandong Industrial Co, a subsidiary of China Tobacco.
The ads said the limited edition would be based on the company's high-end "Taishanfoguang" brand. Each cigarette would carry the title of one of Mo's books in Chinese characters.
One of the posters features the silhouette of a man smoking, believed to be Mo, while it quoted him as saying: "Actually I have only three cigarettes. I sent one to Sweden and another to hometown Gaomi. And I held the last one between my fingers to light up my inspiration."
The ads said the cigarettes would be sold in a "luxury rosewood package" and only 100 cartons would be produced.
A carton of such high-end cigarettes - 10 packs of 20 - would cost 20,120 yuan, compared to "normal" cigarettes at around 200 yuan per carton, the ads said.
The posters sparked heated discussion online with many people expressing shock that Mo was endorsing cigarettes.
The Shandong company published an announcement on its official website saying: "Our company has never authorized anyone or any company to design ads for "Limited Mo Yan Edition" cigarette products, and our company has not produced such products."
Despite the denial, tobacco control experts believe the company is behind the post and that its advertising purpose had been achieved.
Yang Gonghuan, deputy head of the Chinese Association for Tobacco Control, told Xinhua that the company may have turned to Mo for commercial endorsement only to be rejected.
"The company just released the failed endorsement information to make their products known by making use of Mo, a household name after he won the Nobel Prize," Yang was quoted as saying.
Although tobacco advertising is banned in China, tobacco companies use various ways to make their products known, such as donating money to schools, sponsoring health research and other, more obscure methods, Yang said.
China signed the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003.
Yang urged the government to better implement the framework and forbid tobacco companies' advertising in such ways.
Mo, meanwhile, could not be reached for comment.
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