Celebrities used to sell misleading ads

Police highlight bogus claims as more Chinese fall prey to scams


BEIJING - IN THE commercial shown countless times on television, Chinese cross-talk star Guo Degang is seen giving a big thumbs-up to a 'special Tibetan fat-eliminating tea'.

The promise of a slimmer figure - 'Three boxes will flatten big stomachs!' was the product's tagline - and the endorsement by a popular celebrity made the tea a hot-seller.

Thousands of boxes, retailing at 29 yuan (S$5.70) each, flew off supermarket shelves. Sales hit 100 million yuan last year. And for his role, Mr Guo pocketed 2 million yuan.

Then last month, the bottom fell out of that particular market. A March 15 programme by state television CCTV on consumer rights' protection featured the tea as among the dubious and sub-standard products and services it had uncovered.

The tea was pulled from shelves and Mr Guo came under fire online for 'irresponsible behaviour'. Netizens vilified him together with a string of celebrities who had fronted misleading ads.

Police had raised the alarm last November, warning consumers about increasingly sophisticated con-artists who paid stars to make their scams look real.

Deceived by misleading commercials, 2.5 million Chinese take incorrect medicine every year, according to the State Administration of Industry and Commerce.

The authorities have stepped up efforts to prevent bogus advertisements from appearing on radio, television, newspapers and magazines.

Still, consumers, including a scam victim who wanted to be known only as Mrs Shi, have increasingly called for a law that holds personalities appearing in an ad responsible for promoting problematic products.

After watching an advertisement for an investment scheme involving forest land fronted by famous actor Ge You, Mrs Shi invested 120,000 yuan in it early last year.

But by June, the scheme had been exposed as a sophisticated scam run by a Beijing-based company. The nine masterminds were caught but it is unclear if the 20,000 investors who put in more than 1.6 billion yuan would be able to recoup their loss.

'One of the reasons that I was encouraged to believe the scheme was the advertisement featuring Ge You,' said Mrs Shi.

'Stars should not abuse their fame. They should do background checks and not endorse products they themselves have not tried or are not sure about.'

Defending himself on a blog, Mr Guo reasoned that he was paid to do the tea advertisement and that if the product was not as advertised, the responsibility should lie with the company which paid him.

He added that he himself had tried the tea and found it to be 'pretty good'.

But his defence cut no ice with some consumers who are suing him and the manufacturer of the tea.