Several Michael Jordan fans who were infuriated by the basketball star's brief appearance at a promotional event demanded an apology yesterday from his sponsor Nike Taiwan and refunds on the products they had bought.
At a press conference held by the Consumers' Foundation, the disappointed fans denounced Saturday's event as a fraud, as the company had refused to disclose beforehand that their idol would only show up on stage for less than two minutes.
"If I had known about his super-brief appearance, I would not have spent more than NT$11,000 buying Nike products to win the ticket for my 12-year-old kid," said mother Jessica Tang (
Another Jordan aficionado criticized the company's lack of sincerity in deciding to give the 700 fans a limited-edition poster featuring Jordan as compensation.
"If extra copies of the posters are made, then they are no longer valuable for the original poster holders," complained 24-year-old teacher Kuan Yung-chieh (
Using harsh language, foundation secretary general Cheng Jen-hung (
As the dispute snowballed, Nike Taiwan yesterday decided to give each of the 700 fans a pair of Air Jordan 1 Retro Low shoes that will not be sold in Taiwan. The offer comes a day after it said it would give the fans posters and priority consideration for the next event in Taiwan featuring NBA players.
Jordan's fleeting appearance last Saturday in Taipei not only enraged his fans -- who said he was stingy in spending time with his loyal supporters but had great fun at a pub the whole night -- but also irritated the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office.
The office yesterday announced that prosecutors have officially begun investigating Nike Taiwan. They said they believed that Nike allegedly took advantage of Michael Jordan's fame to promote its products, but that many Jordan fans did not get what they were expecting by buying Nike products -- namely, to meet Michael Jordan in person.
The 700 fans had earned entry to a draw to see Jordan by winning an essay-writing competition or by buying Air Jordan 19 shoes, which cost NT$4,500.
Taichung reported the steepest fall in completed home prices among the six special municipalities in the first quarter of this year, data compiled by Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) showed yesterday. From January through last month, the average transaction price for completed homes in Taichung fell 8 percent from a year earlier to NT$299,000 (US$9,483) per ping (3.3m²), said Taiwan Realty, which compiled the data based on the government’s price registration platform. The decline could be attributed to many home buyers choosing relatively affordable used homes to live in themselves, instead of newly built homes in the city’s prime property market, Taiwan Realty
The government yesterday approved applications by Alphabet Inc’s Google to invest NT$27.08 billion (US$859.98 million) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. The Department of Investment Review approved two investments proposed by Google, with much of the funds to be used for data processing and electronic information supply services, as well as inventory procurement businesses in the semiconductor field, the ministry said. It marks the second consecutive year that Google has applied to increase its investment in Taiwan. Google plans to infuse NT$25.34 billion into Charter Investments Ltd (特許投資顧問) through its Singapore-based subsidiary Fructan Holdings Singapore Pte Ltd, and
Micron Technology Inc is a driving force pushing the US Congress to pass legislation that would put new export restrictions on equipment its Chinese competitors use to make their chips, according to people familiar with the matter. A US House of Representatives panel yesterday was to vote on the “MATCH Act,” a bill designed to close gaps in restrictions on chipmaking equipment. It would also pressure foreign companies that sell equipment to Chinese chipmaking facilities to align with export curbs on US companies like Lam Research Corp and Applied Materials Inc. The bill targets facilities operated by China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings’ planned acquisition of Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations has yet to enter the formal review stage, as regulators await supplementary documents, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said yesterday. Acting FTC Chairman Chen Chih-min (陳志民) told the legislature’s Economics Committee that although Grab submitted its application on March 27, the case has not been officially accepted because required materials remain incomplete. Once the filing is finalized, the FTC would launch a formal probe into the deal, focusing on issues such as cross-shareholding and potential restrictions on market competition, Chen told lawmakers. Grab last month announced that it would acquire
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