Chu Ko Liang’s (豬哥亮) commercial for consumer electronics retailer Tsann Kuen Enterprise Co (3C, 燦坤) has proven to be a hit. The advert, for air conditioners, makes use of Chu’s talents for impersonation and double entendre.
It seems that the comedian cannot help but sail close to the wind, and Jerry Fan (范可欽), a friend of Chu’s who helped negotiate this comeback gig, said he hoped that the National Communications Commission (國家傳播通訊委員會) would not take exception to the incorporation of a line in the commercial that is almost an exact homophone for a Chu catchphrase the funnyman had previously been warned off using on air. The sentence “leng liang ka hou” (冷涼卡好), sounds, as spoken in the ad, almost identical to the banned catch phrase “lin nia ka hou“ (恁娘卡好), which can be translated as anything from “how’s your mother?” to “your mother’s alright!” and the connotations that might arise from this statement.
Apple Daily quoted Tsann Kuen Enterprise general manger Jerry Yen (閻俊傑) as saying that sales of air conditioners had doubled in the week since the television advertisement went to air.
The commercial has found favor on video-sharing Web sites, with viewer comments predominantly supporting Chu’s return to the entertainment world. A post on YouTube by Stare7500 put it nicely: “We’ve had so many titty ads, finally a Taiwanese ad that is the real thing. Great.” (看了那麼多乳的廣告,終於看到台灣拍一點像樣的廣告了,讚.) This refers to the flurry of debate over advertising slots by sex kittens Yaoyao (瑤瑤) and Shushu (舒舒), both of whom rely on their bongos’ powers of persuasion rather than acting prowess to promote products.
Chu would do well to remember, however, that the world of celebrity endorsements is a fickle one. Take aspiring model Liz Yang (楊莉思) for example. The Guatemalan-Taiwanese model, who attained some prominence through a short-lived involvement with singer David Tao (陶喆) and as spokeswoman for Taipei’s Breeze Center (微風廣場), is being threatened with a lawsuit for failing to meet her contract obligations to the retail outlet, which Next Magazine partially ascribes to Yang having turned down a dinner invitation from Breeze boss Henry Liao (廖鎮漢). She reportedly faces the prospect of shelling out NT$7 million for violating her contract, a sum her agent says vastly exceeds what Breeze paid her.
Yang, who was much touted for her “boldness” in photo shoots, has also suffered from a comparison with Maria Ozawa, the Japanese porn star who was recently in Taiwan to promote the new slasher flick Invitation Only (絕命派對). Yang was supposed to engage in some girl-on-girl action with Ozawa, but according to Next the scene was shot using a different actress because the two fostered a mutual dislike for each other. Yang is also reported to have been somewhat shocked by Ozawa’s hard-core credentials, which go very much further than flashing a bit of thigh in a fashion shoot.
It’s not all hard slog for those working in the entertainment industry, though. One woman who seems to be getting the breaks is 44-year-old Pauline Lan (藍心湄). The homely TV host likes her men young, and her relationship with 28-year-old pretty boy Anthony Kuo (郭彥均) might go someway to showing that not everyone in the celebrity firmament is fixated on age. And this is hardly a one-off coup, for Lan has a solid track record in the cradle-snatching department. The relationship doesn’t seem to be doing Kuo’s career much harm either and his modus operandi isn’t unique.
Basketball star Sam Ho (何守正), who has signed on as a new spokesman for Taiwan Beer, could be reading from the same rule book as Kuo as he is reportedly riding the skirt tails of a successful woman to fame and fortune. His long rumored association with Mando pop diva A-mei (張惠妹) has never been fully acknowledged or denied by either party, but according to observers at Next, Ho has been holding to the straight and narrow recently. His good behavior has brought him fully into A-mei’s charmed circle, and if nothing else, his career in showbiz is looking up.
In other romantic news, Next has revealed its report on the divorce between actress Annie Yi (伊能靜) and Harlem Yu (庾澄慶) being finalized was based on false information, which was “leaked” to get the media off their backs. Whether it’s official or not, the two seem now to be well and truly embarking on their separate romantic paths with Sina.com (新浪) running photos of Yi snapped enjoying a late night out with an unnamed man and Next reporting that Yu has found consolation “in the arms of a mature woman (熟女).”
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
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