Smoke and mirrors on TV screens

Procrastination is one trait I always regret.

For instance, I had never dabbled in stock markets but began to consider buying shares in the last quarter of last year, when the Shanghai stock index reached what I conjectured was its nadir at about 1,600 points. However, I did not act simply because I was too lazy to analyze which shares to buy. Now my remorse is too late, given that the index has well passed 2,500 points.

Nevertheless, procrastination has occasionally benefited me.

Not long ago, I was attracted by some soap dramas broadcast by provincial TV stations, which kept showing commercials at intervals selling mobile phones. Though annoyed, I watched the ads and was finally carried away by the smart functions of one of the brands. The 18-karat gilded handset has nearly all the advanced functions of internationally well-known brands - touch sensitive operation, MP3 and MP4 playback, high-definition camera, GPS positioning, electronic mapping and so on. The price was especially alluring - less than half the price in normal shops, with 1,000-yuan ($147) worth of free phone calls thrown in. I wanted to buy one.

Again, I did not act, probably because I was still subconsciously suspicious, though the TV commercial promised fatter worms for earlier birds. But this time, my habitual procrastination saved me. Yesterday, I learned from Chinese media that nearly all the copycat mobile phones advertised on late night TV programs, including the brand I was interested in, were deceptive sales gimmicks. Buyers found that their functions failed to match those boasted by the commercials and the promised free call deal was simply a hoax.

The media revealed that the manufacturers of the low-quality and low-priced mobile phones sold their products in bulk to "TV direct-sale companies", which were then put on late night broadcasts by TV stations to brag about the "advantages" of the phones. The commercials, in the words of one of the managers of the manufacturers, "are bold enough to say anything", alluding to the bogus claims made of the phone functions.

After the customers received their mobile phones through mail and discovered the problems, they usually did not know who to complain to because the TV sales companies never announced their names and addresses. The companies only gave a few telephone numbers. If you dialed the numbers, those receiving the calls would try to delay the matter with all kinds of excuses. After some time, the companies just disappear.

These companies dare to deceive customers by changing phone numbers frequently because they can earn huge profits in a short period of time. According to Professor Zhang Shuting from the China Media University, the companies can receive 500 to 1,000 orders in just half an hour after the commercial is broadcast. They only need to put the complaining customers on hold for one or two months before walking away with the loot.

Obviously, the TV stations that run the commercials are partly responsible for the fraud because they failed to check the content of the ads. They have violated the Law on Advertisement as well as their professional ethics. Another party that should take the blame is the industrial and commercial administration, which issued licenses to the TV direct sales companies.

In fact, the TV and industrial and commercial authorities previously did take action to ban such sales. On Aug 1, 2006, they issued statements prohibiting TV shows that promote drugs and equipment that claim to trim bodies, increase body height and enlarge breasts. After that, the direct sales turned to mobile phones and notebooks. Now that there are so many customer complaints, the authorities are likely to take new action.

But what else will appear in TV commercials then?

E-mail: liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/22/2009 page8)