Kuka, a Chinese sofa-maker, was so eager to get its message across to the media that it offered reporters HK$1,000 coupons redeemable in its stores - if they attended a media briefing on its expansion plans.
The Hangzhou-based company yesterday said it aimed to increase the number of outlets to 2,000 from 1,400 by the end of this year.
Besides company officials, a representative of the Hong Kong Investment Authority also attended the briefing, and to make sure the press conference went to script, the public relations representative gave reporters suitable questions to ask.
But Louie Chan, general manager of PRidea, Kuka's public relations company, said the coupons were Kuka's idea, and played the issue down.
'If you don't want [the coupon], you can throw it away,' he said. 'We just follow [the client's] instructions.'
Asked if offering the coupons was legal, a spokeswoman for the Independent Commission Against Corruption last night said she could not comment on individual cases.
The company opened its first Hong Kong store last year, and its fifth comes to Kowloon Bay later this month.