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My Take | Lancome has only itself to blame for public relations fiasco

Cancelling a concert by Canto-pop star and democracy activist Denise Ho because of criticism by Beijing-backed paper a PR disaster for cosmetics giant

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Canto-pop singer Denise Ho Wan-sze. Photo: AP
Alex Loin Toronto

Lancome should have stuck with Kate Winslet, Julia Roberts and Emma Watson. Even Zhang Ziyi, Fan Bingbing and Gong Li would do. Sure, they all cost a lot more than Canto-pop singer and democracy activist Denise Ho Wan-sze. But the public backlash over the cosmetics giant’s cancellation of a free concert with Ho has probably inflicted far greater cost than jetting one of those superstars to Hong Kong.

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The reputational damage is incalculable. Not only has the company suffered a backlash from Hong Kong netizens angry over its apparent kowtowing to Beijing, but the furore has become international news, covered even by The New York Times, the BBC and Le Monde.

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There is no right or wrong answer as to whether a multinational like Lancome should have hired, or stayed away from, politically active stars like Ho, who also recently visited the Dalai Lama. If you want to be edgy and appeal to younger locals, you can probably do that. But if you want to stay on Beijing’s good side, you should definitely stay away.

What’s a definite no-no is to hire someone like Ho and then promptly ditch her after an official mainland newspaper complains. That not only makes you look spineless and unprincipled, it shows you are incompetent, which is more unforgivable in the corporate world.

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