Thursday, April 24, 2008

Boycott the Boycotts

I think I need a scorecard to keep track of all the boycotts and pissing matches. First, Chinese netizens decided to boycott Louis Vuitton, Carrefour, and anything else French because of the Olympic torch relay debacle. Then the French decided they had nothing to lose, so they gave honorary citizenship to Dalai Lama and Hu Jia.

Then there was the case of the American volunteer who was allegedly harassed for going to Carrefour and accused of being French (Shanghaiist story). After the initial report, it seems that it wasn't too bad and the man wasn't hurt. If incidents like this are repeated or involve violence, there is sure to be more backlash to follow. Of course, Shenzhen has yet to see such a protest--Carrefour is only slightly less crowded than usual.

Speaking of other boycotts, apparently there are people boycotting the Olympic sponsors (i.e. McDonald's and Coke). These people feel that sponsorship of this year's Olympics makes these companies evil in some way, despite the fact that they've sponsored the games for as long as I can recall.

I've also heard a rumor that some Chinese are boycotting KFC. I don't know the reasons, but I'm sure it's petty and confusing.

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