The person responsible for selling condoms carrying a depiction
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, used 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. They 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’d 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
associates, Team Yao, argued that it damaged the player's
image.
The condom 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. However, another condom maker has been using "Phoenix"
which looks similar to and sounds the same as the Hong Kong-based
Phoenix TV.
(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2006)