bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Vivienne Chow

Pop queen Madonna has once again proved her charisma, this time by inspiring local diehard fans who crave not just her  CDs and posters but also life-size promotional cut-outs - even if it means stealing them.
Madonna's new album, Hard Candy, had barely hit the shelves when record stores, including those in Mong Kok, reported that promotional cut-outs measuring about  1.6 metres were stolen on Friday night.
At least a third of the 30 cut-outs provided by Madonna's label Warner Music to record stores for promotional purposes have gone missing.
Warner Music confirmed the thefts and said it was unheard of for people to walk away with a large cut-out.
'We have had people ripping off posters before, but stealing cut-outs certainly takes some guts,' said Kelvin Wong,  vice-president of Warner Music Asia.
'In my experience, fans from Hong Kong certainly are the craziest.'
Each cut-out was said to cost about HK$1,000 to produce.
Only 30 were produced because of the small size of the shops.
The record stores told the label that their premises  had also been vandalised.
Mr Wong said the company did not plan to make a police report.
The news came as A4-size promotional cut-outs for the album surfaced yesterday for sale   on auction website e-Bay at a starting price of about US$30.
Vincent Lee, Warner Music Hong Kong's promotions boss,  said the company now had to make another 10 life-size cut-outs and distribute them to record stores that had suffered the thefts.
Mr Lee said the record label had produced about 250 A4-size cut-outs, but had received no reports of theft.
'In fact, some fans have told us that some record stores offered to sell the life-size cut-out to them for HK$800,' he said.
According to Reuters, the 49-year-old diva left Warner last year and signed a record deal with concert touring company Live Nation.
The 10-year contract, including a three-album deal, was believed to be worth US$120 million.



'Crazy' fans steal life-size cut-outs of pop diva Madonna