For the New Year, Yao Ming stops by Liu Xiang’s place to see how his recovery is progressing. Coca-Cola features prominently in this video broadcast on CCTV-News. Soft ad? Lots of people think so. (via Sina)
Chengdu Business News digs deeper:
Netizen suspicions are not groundless. This reporter confirmed that the contents of the video had come from a New Year party thrown by Dragon TV and Coca-Cola on the bank of Shanghai’s Huangpu River. One highlight of the event was the presence of Liu Xiang’s father Liu Xuegen who, connected via a trans-oceanic line with his son in far-off Houston, shared their first Coke of the new year. Afterward, Liu and Yao Ming presented individual New Year’s greetings whose contents were the same as what CCTV-News later broadcast. So it’s only natural that CCTV’s broadcast of this video would lead to misunderstanding.
And via Leitie, a rant against soft ads with this video as a backdrop.