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).”
Dec. 16 to Dec. 22 Growing up in the 1930s, Huang Lin Yu-feng (黃林玉鳳) often used the “fragrance machine” at Ximen Market (西門市場) so that she could go shopping while smelling nice. The contraption, about the size of a photo booth, sprayed perfume for a coin or two and was one of the trendy bazaar’s cutting-edge features. Known today as the Red House (西門紅樓), the market also boasted the coldest fridges, and offered delivery service late into the night during peak summer hours. The most fashionable goods from Japan, Europe and the US were found here, and it buzzed with activity
During the Japanese colonial era, remote mountain villages were almost exclusively populated by indigenous residents. Deep in the mountains of Chiayi County, however, was a settlement of Hakka families who braved the harsh living conditions and relative isolation to eke out a living processing camphor. As the industry declined, the village’s homes and offices were abandoned one by one, leaving us with a glimpse of a lifestyle that no longer exists. Even today, it takes between four and six hours to walk in to Baisyue Village (白雪村), and the village is so far up in the Chiayi mountains that it’s actually
These days, CJ Chen (陳崇仁) can be found driving a taxi in and around Hualien. As a way to earn a living, it’s not his first choice. He’d rather be taking tourists to the region’s attractions, but after a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the region on April 3, demand for driver-guides collapsed. In the eight months since the quake, the number of overseas tourists visiting Hualien has declined by “at least 90 percent, because most of them come for Taroko Gorge, not for the east coast or the East Longitudinal Valley,” he says. Chen estimates the drop in domestic sightseers after the
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo, speaking at the Reagan Defense Forum last week, said the US is confident it can defeat the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the Pacific, though its advantage is shrinking. Paparo warned that the PRC might launch a “war of necessity” even if it thinks it could not win, a wise observation. As I write, the PRC is carrying out naval and air exercises off its coast that are aimed at Taiwan and other nations threatened by PRC expansionism. A local defense official said that China’s military activity on Monday formed two “walls” east
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