The Globe and Mail article on Thursday, September 29 on Reebok’s misrepresentative marketing of their EasyTone and RunTone footwear caught my eye. Nadia Niky summarizes the article in her BComm blog here.

But this topic instigated thoughts on other outrageous actions other products claim to do. The original newspaper article mentions Nivea’s My Silhouette skin care line that supposedly “reduces the size of certain body parts.” Federal  Trade Commission has already taken action, and a notice has even been put on Nivea’s website here.

What other crazy, hard-to-believe and extremely deceiving product claims are also out there? I’ve heard of:

•  $140 LiLash eyelash enhancing serum, which claims to lengthen and thicken one’s eyelashes;
• organic cigarettes;
• Danone’s immunity-enhancing yogurt;
• Lululemon’s Vitasea line, claiming to have health advantages from the seaweed in the fabric.

The Globe and Mail’s article ends on a hopeful note: “‘We take all allegations seriously… If consumers feel a company is engaging in misrepresentation, we’d certainly encourage them to let us know.'”

I think there should be more commissions set up to properly evaluate claims before companies can market such products. The FTC is optimistic, but seems to rely too much on consumers’ initiatives.

It is an honest coincidence that I find myself focusing on China once again. After a month-long trip to Beijing and Shenyang this summer, I have returned home with many incomplete and underdeveloped thoughts.

Those who have never visited Asia before will find it hard to digest the fact that the Asia now, especially in metropolitan areas, is not the Asia NGOs used to describe it to be. When I visited, my extended family brought me to the most expensive seafood restaurant in Shenyang. Upon asking my mother this when we were alone later, she explained that the most important thing for upper-middle and high classmen is to SHOW OFF WHAT YOU HAVE. The only way forward, in terms of promotions and raises, is by building connections.

Of course, building connections must involve freshly imported seafood, bottles of Bordeaux, and expensive gifts during holidays.

This spending phenomenon is not exclusive to China, but an article by BBC focuses solely on the booming country: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13284481. I had to re-read this statement to let it register: “LVMH [Louis Vuitton] already makes about 40% of its profits from [China].”

How sustainable is this spending phenomenon?

For further reading: http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/05/04/china-leads-luxury-spending/

China’s one child policy (计划生育政策) was implemented in 1979 to alleviate the country of impending economic, environmental and social problems. The debate over the ethical issues behind the one child policy is still extremely heated – should government have the power to limit the size of a family? What happens if an unplanned pregnancy occurs? However, recently more attention has been given towards the economic complications of this policy. Business Weekly recently focused on the policy from a business perspective here: “The byproduct of that policy is an accelerating decline in the pool of young and largely unskilled labor that is the mainstay of mainland factories churning out low-margin goods such as clothes, toys, and furniture.” Having been to ShiJiaZhuang, China this summer, I could visually notice the age in the demographic. There were even playgrounds built specifically for seniors, offering low-impact and low-risk playground equipment to exercise with. The policy is not meant to end until at least 2015, but with this amount of strain on the Chinese workforce to support the enormous population of seniors, the government may have to change the policy before 2015 for economic reasons.

One Child Policy - Propoganda?