Bank giant wants to flush away banknote rolls
A group of young entrepreneurs saw their $80,000 investment in one of this year's hottest-selling items at the Victoria Park Lunar New Year fair flushed away when HSBC 'advised' them yesterday to stop selling rolls of 'banknote' toilet paper.
The cheeky product - selling at $38 a roll - had buyers queuing for it since the market opened on Monday. The paper is printed with an $800 'note' on each sheet, featuring a dog in place of the bank's iconic lion to mark the Year of the Dog. And instead of 'HSBC', the sheets carry the letters 'HPNY', standing for Happy New Year.
But the novelty item failed to amuse the city's largest note-issuing bank. Yesterday, it served the stall's operators a notice 'advising' them to stop selling the rolls.
Leo Chan, who designed the toilet paper, said he and his partners would comply with HSBC's request but were left with thousands of unsold rolls and were about $60,000 out of pocket. He said about 10 per cent of their stock had been sold.
'We have stopped selling it. The bank is rich and powerful - we can't take them on,' he said. 'More people have been asking about the paper today but we had to tell them we don't sell it any more.'
Mr Chan said the notice was an advisory and did not threaten legal action. 'But we take the hint.'