A man selling condoms bearing the image of Lei Feng, one of
China's most famous faces from the 1960s, has been told to close
his online sales website, local authorities said Monday.
Zhang Zhiwen from Ningbo in east China's Zhejiang Province put a
photo of Lei Feng holding a gun on the boxes of condoms he obtained
in Guangdong Province and sold under the brand "Taotao".
After media attention earlier this month, the Ningbo Municipal
Administration for Industry and Commerce investigated Zhang's
business and discovered his license was counterfeit, according to
an administration spokesman.
The administration has ordered Zhang to stop selling the condoms
immediately.
Denying previous reports that the administration had previously
been consulted about the business, the spokesman said they would
never permit the use of public images for condom sales, and vowed
to punish such behavior in the future.
Lei Feng (1940-1962) is known to almost every Chinese household
as an ordinary solider who became a model of virtue in the early
days of the People's Republic. Late Chairman Mao Zedong called on
the nation to learn from Lei's loyalty to the Party, generosity and
diligence. The "spirit of Lei Feng" has inspired generations of
Chinese.
Only last week, connections of Chinese NBA star Yao Ming voiced
their disapproval over one company's plan to register "Yao Ming" as
a brand of sanitary pads and diapers. Yao's fans and his business
team, Team Yao, argued that it damaged the player's image.
The registration has already won preliminary approval from the
trademark bureau of the State Administration for Industry and
Commerce and the final decision will be made in three months.
Three quarters of the people who posted their opinions on the
Internet are against the registration, saying the trade bureau
should not grant its approval.
Early in July, a man named Li Zhenyong from Fujian Province
wanted to register the trademark of China Central Television (CCTV)
for condoms, but failed. But another condom maker has been using
"Phoenix", which looks similar and sounds the same as the Hong
Kong-based Phoenix TV.
(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2006)
