G.O.D.'s free-wheeling message hits the streets
The upmarket lifestyle retailer G.O.D. showed yesterday it planned to live up to its vows against self-censorship, a day after police dropped charges against it for selling T-shirts and postcards with the Chinese characters for '14K', the name of a major triad society.
The chain staged a fashion show in Central and Causeway Bay to promote its new shopping mall, dubbed the 'Delay No Mall'. Models dressed in the items from the chain's 'Delay No More' range - a play on a crude expression in Cantonese - staged a mock picnic at the corner of Queen's Road Central and Pedder Street.
They also pretended to sleep on the pedestrian crossing, leaping up and hurrying back to the roadside when the crossing lights turned red.
A similar show was staged outside Sogo in Causeway Bay. But not everyone who saw it was impressed with the 'Delay No More' theme - which the company claims is aimed at promoting punctuality - or the 14K logos.
'This is a big problem,' IT technician Matthew Leung said as he watched. 'Everyone knows Delay No More is a play on Cantonese slang. I totally do not accept it. Also, '14K' should not be shown in the public because it may have a bad impact on children.'
A trading company worker said the 14K incident had set a bad example. 'But it could give parents a chance to make use of it to teach their children to distinguish right from wrong. It also could act as a topic for parents to discuss with children,' he said.
Form Five student Kristy Chan, who studies in Kowloon Tong, said she saw the products as 'a kind of art'. But 'if my parents don't want me to wear those products, I won't wear them. I respect my parents'.
Leo Burnett creative director and a show organiser, Brian Ma, said one of the aims was to be more interactive with passers-by. 'We want audience members to be engaged ... That's why we chose to stage this show in the middle of bustling streets.'
Leo Burnett also wanted to focus on the original concept of 'Delay No More' - urging Hongkongers to do everything right now.
