Category Archive

Is is just me or have the local Bay Area radio stations been getting some interesting guests this week.

• Jeff Ma - Original member of the MIT Blackjack Team
  Monday, March 23rd | Alice 97.3 | Sarah and Noname in the Morning

Not sure how they got him as a guess, but my guess is that Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures’ PR teams have signed him on to promote their new movie 21, which opens this Friday (3/29). Based on the The New York Times bestseller, “Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions” by Ben Mezrich, it’s the story about MIT Blackjack Team, six MIT students that would go to Vegas every weekend to make bank playing Blackjack by counting cards during the early 90s.

The title character, Kevin Lewis was based on Jack Ma. Apparently Jack had originally attempted to pen his story but gave up quickly after writing one sentence. He then asked his friend Ben Mezrich to write the story and the rest is history.

One interesting tidbit that I remember from the show was about a site called DoublePlayTV.com where Jeff Ma has published instructional videos that teach you how to count cards. If you’re heading to Vegas soon, it’s recommended that you check it out.

If you want to hear the whole interview, here’s a link to the podcast.

Sub-note: I had first learned about the MIT Blackjack Team from a documentary about the world’s greatest heists and thieves that was included as a special feature in the Ocean’s 13 DVD/BluRay. It’s a pretty interesting feature and some of the other heists (including a woman who would steal jewelery but simply walking out of the store with it on her finger).

• Jennifer 8. Lee - Author of “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles”
  Wednesday, March 26rd | KQED Radio (NPR) 88.5| Forum

If you are a foodie with a special interest in China and Chinese/Chinese American culture, then you might want to read a new book by New York Times reporter, Jennifer 8. Lee (Yes, her last name is actually the number 8). Named “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles” the book (I hear….as I have not yet read) is a anthropological study about Chinese food in America.

As part of a fairly typical but very successful publicity/PR book tour in nine U.S. cities. While I am not too familiar with book/publishing public relations, her publicist, Cary Goldstein has been scoring some amazing media placements—NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Reader’s Digest, Everyday with Rachael Ray, Newsweek, AOL’s Home Page, Maxim, Glamour, etc.— with the book only out in less than a month and not yet in wide distribution.

Though my only thought is that it would be nice if she clip those placements and posted on her site, instead of listing them. It would be interesting to read different reviews, especially considering how diverse her placement has been and it would have saved me the trouble of trying to find all of those articles myself (click on the media outlets listed in the paragraph above to see their views on this book).

I had noted her appearance in the San Francisco Bay Area a couple of weeks ago but forgot to save the date and missed her talk at a local book store. On wells. But fortunately, I did tune-in to NPR/KQED Radio at the right time tonight and caught her interview on Forum.

Jennifer share some interesting facts and tidbits about specific dishes, but she raised a few interesting points that had never occurred to me:

• Chinese food in American is actually highly regionalized. For example, there’s a dish called velvet chicken that is very popular in the Chicago/Mid-west region but is largely unheard of in the New York region and California. Likewise, another Chinese American dish called cashew chicken was originally developed in Springfield, MO first and later grew in popularity around the country.
• Chinese Cuisines at the Tipping Point: Several listeners called in during the show to share their experience with Muslim Chinese food or Western Chinese food (i.e. not westernized Chinese food, but rather cuisine from West China) from the Kunming region. Many of them lamented that they were unable to find restaurants that served those styles in the U.S. and asked if she knew were they might be able to find it. Jennifer pointed out that these styles have yet to really become introduced in the U.S. in a very mainstream way, much like Sichuan and Hunan cuisine, though she did note a couple Muslim Chinese food in the Bay Area.
• Traditional Chinese American Cantonese Cuisine is best found in Mexico. This seemed a bit over the top, but Jennifer had an interesting explanation. The Chinese American cuisine that most Americans were first introduced to was a Cantonese style (not to be confused with traditional Cantonese food from China and Hong Kong). In the 60s and 70s, this style in the U.S. became influenced by the influx and popularity of Sichuan and Hunan food (probably coinciding with new waves of Chinese immigration). Meanwhile, the Chinese restaurants in Mexico remained largely untouched by this influence and in some sense could be considered a more traditional Chinese American Cantonese food.

If you want to hear the whole interview, here’s a link to the podcast.

Sub-Note: I first heard about the book from my cousin’s blog and have been trying to locate the book in a brick and mortar bookstore ever since. I was later told to order it from Amazon, which I will once I get around to it.

Hollywood Trends of Days Gone By…..

• Oxygen Bars - Strange, but I let I ignored it and it’s a dead fad now.
• Botox Parties - Can rich women be anymore vain? It will pass.
• Detox Diets - Adding a health stamp to the act of self-starvation for work. Only for the strong willed.
• Heiresses - As if the silver spoon that they were born with wasn’t enough, now they want the fame and glory that most starving actors spend years fighting to achieve, though most don’t.
• Buddhism - I can’t begin to count the number of actors who have jumped on this bandwagon, but what every helps fund the Free Tibet cause, I suppose….

Hollywood trends, no matter how bizarre or insane, usually achieve some level of household name status with most disappearing into a distant afterthought. But the the latest and greatest from actress, Demi Moore is just down right disturbing, disgusting and dumb.

Apparently, she announced Monday on national late night TV, NBC’s The Late Show with David Letterman, that in her quest to find “cutting edge of things that are for optimizing your health and healing” she has discovered leech therapy in Austria.

Last time I checked, that’s not new, that’s just backwards medicine from the 16th and 17th century. That’s how they treated George Washington when he was on his death bed, along with everyone else at the time because they believed that bloodletting via leeches was a method of cleansing the blood and stimulating health.

Personally, I believe that allowing a parasite to suck your blood has no medical value, but not to be entirely dismissive I found an interesting article from The New York Times about the revival of age-old cures via maggots and leeches. (However, it was published in 2005,…..perhaps this means that Demi’s a little late to jump on this bandwagon).

To top it off, the “therapist” who convinced her to try the treatment has also led Demi to believe that treatment uses “highly trained medical leeches” …… supposedly a far cry from your standard swamp leeches. Good grief! A leech is a leech, a backbone-lacking parasite that sucks your blood. It ain’t no freakin dog or monkey. (Sorry folks - no links in this paragraph. I dare not Google leeches for fear of having to look at one, please look them up yourselves if you are interested. I am sure that there is plenty of information on Wikipedia.com).

Public Relations Notes: Either that leech therapist has a very good public relations agency or she is just insanely PR savvy to secure Demi Moore’s endorsement for this wacky health treatment on national television. If more people jump on this bandwagon, I just may be sick (but very amazed). At the same time, if public reaction is pretty negative (as it should be), then I just may have more faith in people’s ability to think for themselves rather than following Hollywood’s lead on everything.

What’s next? Perhaps a facial in which you let a live jellyfish suck on your face.

nataliedee.com

Even after announcing his “retirement,” Edison Chen and his infamous sex photos continues to catch my attention. Only now, instead of making the most recent headlines of The Los Angeles Times and ABC News, he’s being “sighted” in more unexpected places and ways.

Edison Sighting #1: The other day while listening to Live 105’s The Woody Show on my way to work, a caller brought up the whole Edison Chen sex photo scandal during a long discussion about taking photos/video taping your sexual escapades and saving it unbeknown-st to other person. Though the woman did not remember the names and was pretty vague in her description of the scandal, it was obvious that Edison was now also hitting the radio airwaves in the U.S.

Edison Sighting #2: Earlier this week, a former colleague from The Agency sent me this link.

Apparently, an e-mail is circulating through out the Chinese speaking world that has translated Edison’s press conference statement (which was spoken in English) into Chinese. On top of that, key words and phrases have been highlighted and explained in further detail.

PR Notes: In my original analysis of Edison’s crisis communication strategies, I was dumbfounded as to why he use English in his first on-line plea for people to stop circulating the images. A week later, I was again perplexed as to why he would use English in during his press conference in Hong Kong.

Based on logical common sense, wasn’t it obvious that it would have been more appropriate for Edison to speak in Cantonese, since his audience (the people who have followed the scandal from the beginning and probably care the most) speaks Chinese? It almost felt like he was catering to the foreign press, which really should have been the least of his concerns.

Concluding: But in retrospect, I suppose that forcing Chinese people everywhere to learn English and translate his statement was his first “act of charity” since his departure from Hong Kong’s entertainment industry.

See below for the E-mail:
Special thanks to Thomas Crampton for his originally posting the e-mail.

冠希的道歉信, 用词准确地道，包含50多个考研(雅思)核心词汇，经改编可成为一篇高质量的考研完形填空或雅思阅读理解。

Edison这小子虽然“猥琐“，但英文用词的难度达到了考研英语（国内最变态英语考试）要求，参加雅思考试估计8分以上不成问题。

1. Today I have come back to Hong Kong to stand before you and account for myself. I have never escaped from my responsibility. During the past few weeks, I have been with my mother and my family and my loved ones to show support and care and at the same time to have them support and care for me.

核心词汇解析
account for 1) 说明，解释；2) 占…比例
escape from从…逃脱, 推卸责任
escape＝es(ex=out) + cape(catch)

2. I admit that most of the photos being circulated on the Internet were taken by me. But these photos are very private and have not been shown to people and are never intended to be shown to anyone. These photos were stolen from me illegally and distributed without my consent.

核心词汇解析
circulate = circul(circle圆圈) + ate v.循环，流通
intend to v.打算去…
illegal = il(not) + legal (合法的) + ly adv.违法地
单词组记: distribute, contribute, attribute, tribute
distribute = dis(away)+ tribute(give) = give away vt.分发，传播
contribute = con(fully) + tribute vt.贡献; 投稿 [助记]全部都给了
attribute to v.归因于
tribute n.贡品，颂词 [助记] 给国王的礼物
单词组记:consent, dissent, resent, sentimental
consent = con(共同)+ sent(=sense情感) n.赞同，同意＝agreement
dissent = dis(not) + sent n.不同意 [助记]不同的情感 = disagreement
resent = re(against) + sent n.憎恨　[助记]　相对抗的情感= hatred
sentimental[谐音]三屉馒头,失恋了只吃三屉馒头,所以是—a.多愁善感的

3. There is no doubt whoever obtained these photos have them uploaded on the Internet with malicious and deliberate intent. This matter has deteriorated to the extent that society as a whole has been affected by this. In this regard, I am deeply saddened. I would like now to apologize to all the people for all the suffering that has been caused and the problems that have arisen from this. I would like to apologize to all the ladies and to all their families for any harm or hurt that they have been feeling. I am sorry. I would like to also apologize to my mother and my father for the pain and suffering I have caused them during the past few weeks. Most importantly, I would like to say sorry to all the people of Hong Kong. I give my apology sincerely to you all, unreservedly and with my heart.

核心词汇解析
单词组记: mal-＝bad坏
malice = mal + ice(冰) n.恶意;【律】预谋, 蓄意 [助记]在路上放一块冰，想让陈冠希滑倒，这是有预谋的恶意伤害。
malicious= malice(恶意) + ious(形容词) a.恶意的
mal-function n.功能紊乱
mal-nutrition n.营养不良
maltreat = mal + treat(对待) vt.虐待
单词组记: libra天平, deliberate, liberate, liberty, libertine, libido
一直到现在，英国的法院门口还站立着古希腊象征法律精神的正义女神(DICE)的雕像，她左手拿着神圣的天平Libra，象征着权衡和平等；右手拿着宝剑，象征着裁决和力量；眼睛被布蒙着，象征绝对的公正无私。
deliberate = de(强调) + libera(=libra) + ate a. 深思熟虑的, 故意的 [助记] 把你的想法放在天平上称量，引申为深思熟虑的，深思熟虑的结果当然是故意的
liberate = liber (自由=libera)+ ate vt.解放(让人民获得自由)
自由和天平有什么关系呢？ 天平的作用是让两边重量相等，平等。解放全人类不就是让人民平等吗？人民解放军PLA：People’s Liberation Army liberation的职责就是解放全中国让中国人民平等自由
liberty n.自由
libertine这个单词叫”浪荡子”，原来就是”特别自由的人”的意思，” 挺（tin）自由（liber）的”
libido弗洛伊德的著作里面，他造出一个表示”性动力”的单词libido（中文翻译成”利比多”），表达的就是这种本源的不受控制的力量。
单词组记:deteriorate,interior, exterior, territory
deteriorate = de(down) + terior(土地) +ate(动词) v.使恶化; 败坏(风俗); 使变坏(品质等) [助记] 品格败坏的人就应该入土活埋。
to the extent 到了….程度
in this regard 在这一点上 = in this case
单词组记: 神奇的-en可以把形容词名词变为你想要的动词
sadden = sad + d + en vt.使人悲哀
strengthen = strength(strong的名词) + en vt.加强（力量）
weaken = weak + en vt.削弱
lengthen = length(long的名词) + en vt.延长
还有一个超级牛的单词前后都加en
enlighten= en + light + en vt.启蒙；（用思想）照亮
intent n.意图，打算
unreservedly = un + reserved(保留的) + ly(副词) adv.毫无保留地

4. I know young people in Hong Kong look up to many figures in our society. And in this regard, I have failed. I failed as a role model. However, I wish this matter will teach everyone a lesson. To all the young people in our community, let this be a lesson for you all. This is not an example to be set for you.

核心词汇解析
look up to 仰望，尊重= respect
look down upon/on 鄙视，瞧不起=despise
role model 榜样

5. During my time away, I have made an important decision. I will whole-heartedly fulfill all commitments that I have to date. But after that, I decided to step away from HK entertainment industry. I have decided to do this to give myself an opportunity to heal myself and to search my soul. I will dedicate my time to charity and community work within the next few months. I will be away from Hong Kong entertainment industry indefinitely. There is no time frame.

核心词汇解析
whole-heatedly 全心全意地; single-mindedly一心一意地
fulfill one’s commitment vt.履行…的诺言
dedicate to 把…奉献给,投身于…
charity = char(=care关心)+ ity (名词) n.慈善，慈善事业 [助记]关心穷人就是做慈善

6. I have been assisting the police since the first day the photos were published and I will continue to assist them. After this press con., I have obligation to help them with their investigation and hope that this case can end soon as everyone I think has the same wish.

核心词汇解析
Press con. = press conference 新闻发布会
press free. = press freedom 言论自由
press 是”压”的意思，怎么会变成”新闻”，”言论”呢？
因为最初的报纸都是油墨印刷,需要把纸紧紧的压在刻版上才能印刷出字来.所以press有了一个引申意:n.出版业,印刷业. 出版印刷业不就是发布新闻和言论的阵地吗?
obligation n.义务
investigation n.调查

7. I would like to use this opportunity to thank the police for their hard work on this case. Thank you.. I believe everyone’s priority now (and) my priority now is to stop the suffering and pain, for not letting this…we do not want to let this situation become more out of control. We need to protect all the innocents and all the young from matters like this. In this regard, I have instructed my lawyers to do everything possible within the law to protect all the innocents, victims of this case. I believe that a press statement is being issued as we speak on what my lawyers have advised me to do.

核心词汇解析
单词组记:prior to, priority
pri = pre是一个拉丁前缀表示before
[书面]prior to = [口语]before
小翻译 : 在你离开之前,请完成这项工作.
Prior to your departure, please complete this task.
小翻译: 预先警告/通知 prior warning/notice.
priority = prior + ity(名词) n.优先考虑的事情, 优先权
单词组忆: victor, victory, victim
vict中的V象征着胜利，vict-表示征服
victory n.胜利
victor =vict + or(人) n.胜利者, 征服者
victim = vict + im(我是) [助记]我是被征服了，当然就成了n.受害人，牺牲品
innocent = in + no + cent(一分钱) [助忆]兜里没有一分钱, 所以没有偷窃, 是无辜的 a. 无辜的, 天真的

8. Lastly, I would like to thank everyone for coming here today and listening to what I have to say. I would like to also apologize once again to all the ladies and their families, my family and to everyone in Hong Kong and everyone in our society. I am deeply saddened by this. And I apologize to everyone (who) has to go through this. I would like to also thank you for giving me this opportunity to say what I have wanted to say all along in my heart.
I hope, after today, I can have your forgiveness. With regard to this case, with everything, everything that has happened, I am deeply sorry.. I hope you all accept my apology and give me a chance. Thank you.

[书]with regard to关于= [口]about

For a “simple gamer” like myself (which means that I rank several levels below a casual gamer), Scrabulous has been god-sent. It’s the next best thing after Brain Age 2’s Sodoku and Tetris DS, both of which are available for the Nintendo DS Lite.

But I confess, I am but a Newb (aka newbie, aka newcomer to an on-line game) having only recently started to play. I was first introduced to Scrabulous when Hasbro began its now infamous campaign to shutdown the popular Facebook application. After reading the “horrified” reports, first from PR Squared (a public relations blog I frequent) and then from Entertainment Weekly, my interest was piqued. I booked the next ticket on the Scrabulous bandwagon to see what all the fuss was about and I never got off.

This “unofficial” on-line version of Scrabble is ingenious, the brainchild of two brothers in India, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, who just wanted to play on-line for “free.” Problem was, Scrabble belongs to Hasbro, the corporate toy-maker that owns the rights to the Scrabble trademark in the U.S. and Canada, with Mattel holding the trademark everywhere else.

Interestingly enough, The New York Times found that many Scrabulous players believed Scrabble to be “public property” like Chess or Checkers. It’s a misconception that’s easy to make, considering that there are many other unofficial on-line versions of Scrabble available, though none were as well designed, nor achieved the same rabid popularity as Scrabulous. Examples include Internet Scrabble Club, Let’s Play Scrabble, Online-Scrabble and Scrabble by GameHouse.

From a public relations perspective, it’s just an unfortunately legal move on Hasbro’s part that has left many PR professionals shaking their heads in disbelief, especially since Target and Ford spurned the blogosphere at more or less the same time. Instead of embracing these new-found fans, Hasbro brought forth their wrath–creating a viral nightmare.

With over 500,000 to 700,000 daily users and nearly 3 million registered users, many of them playing multiple games at once, you can only image what has ensued……

• Save Scrabulous Online Petition
• Facebook “Save Scrabulous” Groups (About 30 groups found)
• Many, many bloggers protesting in thousands of posts (too many to link)
• Reporters wrote to rally the masses and admit their own addictions to the game. Here are some journalists who broke from their usual neutral stance to plead for Scrabulous’ life:
  • Fortune Magazine / Techland Blog
  • Associated Press
• YouTube protest videos:

While Scrabulous has yet to be shut down, it is unlikely that it will remain in its current state on Facebook. A few recent reports, indicate that RealNetworks is planning to buy Scrabulous and work out a deal with Hasbro. Also notable, Electronic Arts is planning to create an “Official” Scrabble game with Hasbro as well. While some analysts and commentators say that this may be the only way to save Scrabulous, it feels like an unfortunate solution for fans. But, at the same time, this new development may also mark the beginning of a new golden age for classic board games everywhere.

Hasbro, Here’s an idea - On another side note, Hasbro should most definitely reallocate its marketing funds to its research & development team. It would be money better spent to create something brilliant like Scrabulous than an unfortunate boardgame-inspired Hollywood flop.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive” –Sir Walter Scott

Apparently, a very well embellished resume can make you a Food Network star and put you on a well paved track to cook book publishing deals, licensing deals to have your own signature kitchen product line and opportunities to hobnob with the rich and famous. It’s a common career move with very attractive rewards, if you’re willing to take the risks.

So pity the fool that gets caught, especially on a very public and very national, possibly international scale. The fool of moment is Robert Irvine, chef and Food Network star of the show, Dinner: Impossible.

In Dinner:Impossible, Irvine is tasked to complete a new “cooking mission” in each episode. For example, he might be assigned to prepare a special going-away dinner for troops about to head to Iraq. The main hook for the show are its crazy 1-2 hour time constraints, coupled with an enormous number of diners (often 100-200 people) and a kitchen that’s usually filled with limited supplies and equipment. I think that people mainly tune in to see if he’ll complete the mission or crack under the pressure.

Last week on February 17th, the St. Petersburg Times published a scathing story that uncovers the truth behind Irvine’s ficticious resume and recent bad business practices. Here are the story’s key revelations:

• Knighthood - Jenn Stebbing, press officer at Buckingham Palace: “He is not a KCVO (Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order), and he wasn’t given a castle by the queen of England.”
• B.S. in Food and Nutrition, University of Leeds - Sarah Spiller, a press officer at the University of Leeds: “We cannot find any connection in our records between Robert and the university.”
• Former White House Chef - Walter Scheib, the White House executive chef from 1994 to 2005: “Irvine’s ONLY connection with the White House is through the Navy Mess facility in the West Wing … never in the period from 4/4/94 until 2/4/05 did he have ANYTHING to do with the preparation, planning, or service of any State Dinner or any other White House Executive Residence food function, public or private.”

As of March 1, this story has been picked up or adapted by many other major U.S. publications and news wires including New York Magazine, Washington Post, United Press International (UPI). All the bad publicity to Irvine’s public image has resulted in the Food Network’s decision not to renew Irvine’s contact for more episodes of Dinner:Impossible. This decision was announced this past Friday in a released statement along with an admission from Irvine. Whether Food Network has decided to cast a new host and continue the show is undetermined at this point.

Interestingly, the PR team decided to e-mail this statement individually to reporters and bloggers rather than releasing it over the wire. I suppose this strategy keep the details from manifesting on the Web in random sites and pick ups while still getting the point-of-view out to those most interested in this story.

From a public relations stand point, Irvine only has himself to blame. It’s one thing to put your best foot forward in order to get in the door; but to make such fantastical lies as to introducing yourself as a knight or being a White House chef is incredible.

Given Food Network’s star making power and squeaky clean image, it amazes me that its human resource department never ran a full background check on Irvine before cultivating him into another “face” for the Food Network brand. I am also surprised that nobody, until now, has called him out on these claims. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do recall several instances on Dinner: Impossible where Irvine would recount his past experience and name drop the White House. But I guess this just show easy it can be to get away with a fake resume.

Moral of the Story: Lying is never a good idea, especially on a resume with which you are using to apply for a job that will throw you into the public eye (aka public scrutiny). As Edison Chen can tell you, crisis communications sucks.

Side Note: Good job to St. Petersburg Times reporter, Ben Montgomery for his excellent work in “investigative” reporting. With so many cuts in editorial staff (meaning that most reporters are reduced to writing more fluff pieces and relying on PR people for all their information), it’s nice to know from a consumer stand point that there are still journalists who are in search of truth and can make the time to do their own research.

In an update to my post last week on the Edison Chen Scandal, I’ve decided to follow-up in light of recent, rather interesting developments to the whole fiasco.

Last week, Edison Chen made his “promised” return to Hong Kong and held a press conference to express his apologies and, more surprisingly, to announce his indefinite departure from the HK entertainment industry.

To watch the whole press conference, click on the video compiled and edited together by the South China Morning Post below:

Prior to Edison’s return from his self-imposed exile/hiding in the U.S. and Canada, the rumor mill on many Asian entertainment gossip blogs were flying off the charts. Here are my top picks:

• Edison Chen proposed to current girlfriend and reluctant adult film star, Vincy Yeung in a public relations bid to “clean up” his image, but was rejected (allegedly, multiple times). Vincey was said to have been following the advise of her family, who by the way owns Edison’s management company EEG Entertainment.
• Nicolas Tse and Cecilia Cheung were also rumored to have headed for divorce over the photos because it was alleged that Cecilia had been unfaithful while they were dating and during their marriage. Several strategic public outings, including a co-signed congratulatory gift to Aaron Kwok for his recent concert, are quickly putting these rumors to bed.
• Hong Kong’s triad bosses, who are known to pull all the strings in HK’s seedy entertainment industry, had put a bounty on Edison for tarnishing the industry. These gangsters were either after his life or his hand, which was why Edison was hiding out in Canada and in the U.S.

PR Analysis – Reassessment
In my first post, I made a few predictions about the careers of the three highest-profile individuals involved based on their pre-scandal image and their post-scandal crisis communications strategies.

My guess is that Edison and Cecilia will still be able to get film work though they both will be typed cast that the “baddie” or the “kid from the wrong side of the tracks.”……. Gillian’s career however is likely to suffer the most since she is built her entire image on being squeaky clean and chaste.

Approximately one week later, let’s see how my analysis and assessment has fared so far:

• Edison Chen:Last Thursday (2/21), he announced an “indefinite” break from the Hong Kong entertainment industry in order devote his time to charity and soul-searching. This definitely was a very unexpected move, as I had anticipated that he would have been very confident in his ability to ride out the controversy and continue on with his life, status quo. Personally, I think that this maybe the smartest PR move that he has made since the whole thing started. With all the heat and criticism that he has received, his best (and possibly only) option is to lay low, very, very low, for a very long time. I suspect that he is banking on the media frenzy to eventually die down and move on to the next hot story to capture the Chinese people’s imagination and slowly start to erase all memory of his illicit photos from public concern. SCMP reported that his decision had received applause as well as doubts. (subscription required). Additionally, he was also smart to call it an “indefinite” break, which gives him leeway to make a possible, come back (but it would need to extremely well maneuvered by a very experienced and savvy public relations/publicity team). Though he has plenty to keep him occupied in the meantime, such as his many entrepreneurial ventures — from nightclubs to a clothing line, Clot. Last year, I read in an article from the San Francisco Chronicle in which he hoped to fashion himself into China’s Jay-Z. Good luck with that now, Edison.

• Cecilia Cheung: While most certainly not immune to rumors and criticism, it looks like Cecilia has been the more successful in continuing working without as much public outrage, as expected. It was a smart move for her to focus on more closed-door work (like filming or recording) as opposed to large venue publicity events. Interestingly enough, she has not made any public statement, which has actually worked to her advantage. From the look of her PR strategy, by not trying to win public forgiveness (especially, for something that she probably isn’t that sorry about) she is not faced with the public opinion about her sincerity and such. It also helps that that “good girl” character has never been apart of her public personal. Gillian, as we can see below, should really take notes from Cecilia’s people.

• Gillian Cheng: Also as expected, Gillian’s career has definitely taken a lot of heavy and hard hits, especially after her much criticized public apology/”I was naive and silly” statement. From her publicly-panned appearance on a recent TVB program to an emotional breakdown that has lead her to pull-out of a movie and several public appearances, and now to banned from performing at the Opening Ceremony during the 2008 Beijing Olympic—it’s really not looking good for this girl.

From the look at most of the headlines, the recent death of beloved HK comedian, Lydia Sum passed away, which has redirected much of the media attention in the recent days. Only time will tell how this will all play out, though unless more sex photo/video scandals pop up, the Hong Kong entertainment industry is unlikely to become more forgiving, or even becoming a career-maker for unknown would-be celebrity like Hollywood. But then again, that might be a really good thing.

• Monopoly - Probably an ensemble comedy about a bunch of would-be millionaires and money makers. In accordance to the game, someone will be thrown in jail, and someone will become rich, building properties on Broadway and Park Place while taking away more money from the residents of low-income housing and properties at Baltic Avenue.
• Candy Land - A kid’s fantasy movie thats probably computer-animated or possessing of a lot of CGI. I can’t help but think that this film will look like its on crack, like someone threw up cotton candy everywhere. It will be perfect for little girls everywhere who think of themselves as a princess.
• Clue - If I recall correctly, the earliest board game based-movie was Clue, which was made in 1985 (so I guess the new Clue movie will be either a remake or a sequel) which was actually pretty funny and entertaining but not commercially successful. Perhaps Universal is hoping to cash in on the cult following, as the original Clue movie did not gain traction until now.
• Ouiji - A family-friendly ghost story that’s similar to Jamanji. It will be about a bunch of good-looking kids who summon a great evil through their nifty Hasbro Ouji board that’s been cursed by the devil.
• Battleship - A war movie thats based on an aircraft carrier during which someone will say “You sunk my battle ship!”
• Magic, the Gathering - A LOTR or Narnia wannabe that will be an ode to the fantasy/science fiction geeks who love it. Though it would be more hilarious if it were coming of age story about Magic geeks who battle in basements after school.
• Stretch Arm Strong - Probably a cheesy/too-much CGI super hero movie that’s in the same league with Under Dog, which got a 15% on Rotton Tomatoes, by the way.

Have we really become such busy and uninspired individuals that we are reduced to stealing MySpace and Match.com profiles or even paying people to write our profiles so that we might get a date? According to The Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times Magazine, apparently we have and here are our options:

• Los Angeles Times Magazine - Apparently, you can outsource your on-line profile management to specialized companies like this one and hire copy writers to come up with some witty and charming headlines and profiles.
  
• The Wall Street Journal - Beware of the newest breed of on-line thieves - they’ll steal your on-line profiles –from headlines to favorite music selection to poems that express ones self.

While on-line dating is pretty commonplace these days, this is a new low. So many people are unable to articulate and express their personalities through words in the on-line space in addition to being unable to engage people in “live” social situations, that they have become an exploited market opportunity for profit. But then again, it’s not that surprising either.Though if that’s their approach to love, it doesn’t seem likely that they will know how to develop and cultivate any new-found relationships if they are more willing to invest their money instead of their time……do these people even realize the time commitment thats needed for a relationship, or maybe they are really just looking for a one night stand. It’s anyone’s guess really….anyone have any thoughts?

Public Relations Note:
After reading these two articles and noting the similar timing of each, I am pretty confident that these are both PR-influenced pieces that was timed for Valentine’s Day (but feel free to correct me if I am wrong). While the WSJ took a more sinister angle about stolen profiles, I couldn’t help but notice that the on-line dating copywriter, e-cyrano.com was cited in both articles.

Literary Note:
On another side-note, e-cyrano is a very clever name, though I had to explain its meaning to a couple of people who also read the article. It doesn’t seem like people are very familiar with the Cyrano de Bergerac story though I am sure that they have seen its storyline played out on some movie or sitcom once before, like “Seinfeld” and “Boy Meets World.”

USDA Makes Nation’s Largest Beef Recall

By GREG RISLINGLOS, Associated Press

ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Sunday ordered the recall of 143 million pounds of frozen beef from a California slaughterhouse, the subject of an animal-abuse investigation, that provided meat to school lunch programs.

Officials said it was the largest beef recall in the United States, surpassing a 1999 ban of 35 million pounds of ready-to-eat meats. No illnesses have been linked to the newly recalled meat, and officials said the health threat was likely small.

Now this is a rather disturbing headline, especially after the beefy meals that I have had in the past two days. This quote is was especially disturbing:

Officials estimate that about 37 million pounds of the recalled beef went to school programs, but they believe most of the meat probably has already been eaten.

As an avid consumer of beef, I now mentally recalling all of the beef-based meals that I have had in the last few days and it’s not looking pretty. Granted, one comforting thing to keep in mind is that the “officials” say that the beef is unlikely to be contaminated with mad cow disease and that the recall was not made because of illnesses linked to the beef in question, but because of animal cruelty issues.

Interestingly enough, newspapers began reporting on Friday that schools in their local area were pulling the beef from their cafeteria menus because the USDA began to probe the slaughterhouse in Chino, California as a result of a video released by the Human Society. (As a side note, I couldn’t help but notice that most of the schools that I read about were in the south….I wonder why they didn’t purchase meat from a local company….that’s an awful far distance to be transporting raw meat even if it is frozen. But I guess not everyone can follow in the footsteps of Google’s corporate cafeteria, Cafe 150, where all foods serve were grown, produced and raise within 180 mile radius of the Google campus.

Still, even though there is no report of contamination and I sure hope that no one falls ill. Either way, I think that I’ll be eating pork, chicken and fish until this whole thing clears up.

From a public relation’s stand point, I couldn’t help but look up what kinds of press releases where being issues on the recall:

• National Cattlemen’s Beef Association issued a statement via PR Newswire almost immediately after the USDA announcement. Looks like the NCBA were very diligent in monitoring the story and had anticipated the recall in order to get this statement out so quickly.
• USDA release the entire transcript of the spoken announcement via PR NewsChannel and their website. I personally have never used PR NewsChannel nor have I ever issued a press conference transcript over the wire, so I wonder if this is a special government wire and if the transcript is a standard government public relations/public affairs. Anybody know?

U.S. Media Coverage

Two weeks after the Edison Chen sex photos first surfaced on the Internet, the scandal made headlines in many of the top U.S. daily newspapers, including New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Even one of the top tech industry trade magazine, ComputerWorld, has chimed in on their thoughts of the story. Given that the Chinese celebrities involved are fairly unknown or pretty low on the Hollywood C-list, it was interesting to read the different angles being taken by these non-Chinese publications who have just gotten wind of the story this week:

• NYT focused on the free speech infringements made by the Chinese and Hong Kong governments by hunting down and arresting the bloggers who circulate and post the illicit photos.

• WSJ on the other hand brought up the discussion that the photos have raised in China and Hong Kong’s more conservative societies. One interesting analogy came from an advertising executives whose aunts and grandmother has asked to see the original photographs and felt compelled to discuss it.

• ComputerWorld obviously took a more tech stand point, blogging about the dos and don’ts of bringing in your computer for repairs and suggested backing up such photos on an external hard drive (if you choose to be so foolish as to keep such photos).

Public Relations Analysis

From a public relations stand point, I have been most interested in how these celebrities will handle their crisis communications and whether or not they will be able to continue their careers in Hong Kong’s entertainment industry. Will any of them be able to pull off a Paris Hilton and parlay the publicity from these sex photos into a career booster?

Though I doubt that any of them will be so lucky, my guess is that Edison and Cecilia will still be able to get film work though they both will be typed cast that the “baddie” or the “kid from the wrong side of the tracks.” It should be noted that both have played one or the other types of characters before, but it seems unlikely that they will every play the innocent, good kid characters again.

Gillian’s career however is likely to suffer the most since she is built her entire image on being squeaky clean and chaste. Not only that, but people have been quick to point out the hypocrisy of these photos given the bucket of tears fuss she made about the paparazzi taking photos of her changing last year.

Crisis Communications At Work

If any of them manages to really turn it around and make come back, I’d give them props. But I’ll have to wait and see, but so far, I have not been impressed by any of their PR/publicist’s recommendations and subsequent actions:

• When the photos first appeared, Gillian Chung’s management agency, Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG), immediately denied that the photos were authentic and filed a police report.
  • Honesty is always the best policy; EEG should have verified the photos with their clients before issuing any kind of statements (but then again the starlet would have probably denied their authenticity, so either way, EEG would likely be in this pickle regardless). The backlash from denying anything especially when it is lie/wrong doing on the part of the company is usually disastrous.

• Gillian Chung made a public statement and appearance, apologizing for the photos without confirming her involvement but calling herself “naive” and “silly.”
  • While she should be commended for actually making a statement in public unlike the other starlets involved, but giving off the ‘oops, my bad….let’s move on’ vibe as many publications have indicated would have been better played had she not already donned the ‘innocent victim and chaste young girl’ role in handling her previous paparazzi photo scandal. Now she faces criticism for being a hypocrite in addition to a sex pot.

  
  

• Edison Chen made public plea for decency and half ass-ed apology on his blog via recorded video. This video has since been largely circulated on YouTube.
  • “Lame” –that’s the first word that popped into my mind when I watched this. Not only did his English sound so awkward (especially since he’s a native speaker from Canada), but something about his statement being made on-line seemed off-kilter to me. If he insisted on speaking directly to the public this when, then I think he should have spoke in Chinese and used a more authentic way of speaking then his quasi-formal choice of words.
    
    
  • I feel like he should have first issued a written statement on the wire and then make a public statement whenever he decides to come out of hiding. Trying to do the viral marketing thing when your scandal began and grew virally, seemed like a poor choice. Now, people have more material to work with: