In a bizarre alliance between business and politics, the KMT has rented advertising space to a sporting goods manufacturer that seems to suggest the party is still fuming over its recent election loss.
The three-story-tall ad features the image of a swimmer next to the Nike logo and the "Just do it" slogan. Below, in big, bold Chinese characters, it reads: "The real winners and losers [come around] every four years (真正的勝負, 四年一次)."
While Nike Taiwan insisted the month-long ad campaign was "created to instill the Olympic spirit in the people of Taiwan," the ad -- which directly faces the DPP-held Presidential Office -- carries the obvious insinuation that in the next election four years from now, there could be a new "winner" in the nation's top office.
PHOTO: CHANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The KMT suffered a bitter defeat in the March presidential election and has done little to hide its displeasure at having lost power to the opposition.
The controversial ad -- and the political connotations it carries -- comes at a time when the freshman Chen Shui-bian (
Speaking with the Taipei Times by phone, KMT spokesperson Jason Hu denied knowledge of the ad being paid for, but did indicate the ad -- while "controversial and clever," was not designed to provoke the DPP or the Presidential Office.
"I will never deny the fact that others may read the [advertisement's] meaning differently ... but the meaning and purpose of the ad was to show support for our Olympic athletes in Sydney," Hu said.
But the DPP didn't seem to interpret the political poke in the eye quite the same way.
"While parties can do what they want, they don't have to make tit-for-tat attacks [on each other] over every issue," said DPP secretary-general Wu Nai-jen (
With the often stale KMT line-up in desperate need of new blood, Hu called Nike "an ideal partner from an advertising point of view," as the alliance helps bolster the "out of touch with today's youth" image of the KMT.
"We lost the election" and are dealing with that fact. We have to learn from the experience and move on," Hu said.
"It certainly is good for our image [to align with Nike and the Olympics] ... we needed to find new ways to appeal to the nation's youth."
Nike Taiwan agreed, saying the ad was part of a unique "win-win" collaboration between the KMT and the company. ?n"The KMT will benefit from being associated with the youthful, exciting image of Nike and the Olympics, and Nike [gets access to] one of the most creative outdoor ad locations in Tawan," said Nike public relations manager Jeanne Huang (黃湘燕).
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS