Liu Xiang, the hurdler whose injury was a disappointment to many Chinese at the Beijing Olympics, attracted more negative media coverage recently, when an advertisement for Coca-Cola - in which Liu is seen welcoming another mainland sporting superstar to his apartment - was used in a supposedly non-commercial news broadcast by China Central Television (CCTV). Liu is also a spokesman for Nutrilite ...
Nutrilite is a brand of mineral, vitamin and dietary supplements created in 1934 by Dr Carl F. Rehnborg. In 1994, complete ownership of Nutrilite was secured by Ada, Michigan-based multilevel marketing company Amway, founded by Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos ...
Both Van Andel (now deceased) and DeVos were born in Grand Rapids, a city 12 miles west of Ada that boasts the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. Also born in Grand Rapids was Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis ...
Among the many famous women Kiedis has dated was the one for whom he wrote the break-up song I Could Have Lied (included on the 13-million copy selling album Blood Sugar Sex Magik): Sinead O'Connor ...
A Dublin-born singer, O'Connor triggered a storm of protest on October 3, 1992, when she appeared on US variety show Saturday Night Live and presented a photo of Pope John Paul II to the camera while singing the word 'evil'. She then tore the photo into pieces and urged viewers to 'fight the real enemy'. The guest presenter for that show was actor Tim Robbins ...
At six foot five inches, Robbins is the tallest actor ever to have won an Oscar. The award for the tallest National Basketball Association player goes to Shanghai-born Yao Ming, Liu's visitor in the Coke advert that so enraged CCTV viewers.
