Expressing concern that the ratification of the cross-strait service trade agreement could decrease creativity in the Taiwanese advertising sector, more than 200 employees from the sector jointly issued a statement in support of the Sunflower movement.
Signatories of the statement include Yahoo media planning manager Hsu Chia-chen (許嘉真), OgilvyOne advertisement supervisor Tsai Ming-ting (蔡明丁), J. Walter Thompson (JWT) creative director Chang I-fei (常一飛), and You Ming-jen (游明仁) from Asatsu-DK Taiwan.
A number of the personnel from the top five advertising companies in Taiwan have also put their names on the statement, though most have done it in a personal capacity by leaving their profession blank or writing that it was “not important.”
JWT employee Weng Kai-chun (翁愷均) added that he has posted an event on Facebook inviting netizens to be creative in telling stories to facilitate communication.
Sensitivity and passion are traits common to the workers in this industry, he said, adding that the statement was in essence a “civic petition” started by members of the creative industry.
“From the perspective of the industry, the biggest clients are the corporations, and from this angle the cross-strait service trade pact’s influence on our jobs cannot stop at a question that merely asked: ‘So what if advertisements were opened to Chinese investment?’” Weng said.
When the pact goes into effect and the markets on both sides of the strait have become one, the difference in tolerance for creativity between Chinese corporations, for instance the Wahaha Company, and its Taiwanese counterpart would spell the gradual decline in creativity as a whole, Weng said.
Weng said that “the statement of support for the Sunflower movement is not anti-China or fearful of competition.”
“It is an effort to support the rights of the people, make their voices heard, and further the democratic system in Taiwan and a greater accentuation of the various industries,” he said.
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