OPINION> FROM THE CHINESE PRESS
Watershed for Master Kong
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-08 07:43

The public concern is more about whether Master Kong has made a false claim relating to its water source in its advertisement rather than who revealed the news. Master Kong should reflect on its own wrongdoing instead of complaining against its rival, which is believed to have revealed the scandal, says an article on Chengdu Business Newspaper. Excerpts:

Last year a popular article on the Internet revealed that the "excellent water source" that Master Kong claims in the advertisement of its mineral water is only tap water, and this created a major public controversy.

Recently, a former senior executive of Master Kong disclosed to China News Week that after the investigation, Master Kong believed that the manipulator behind the "water source gate" of Master Kong is its rival, Nongfu Spring.

Master Kong blames Nongfu Spring for its intention to bring down Master Kong by exploiting the scandal. However, for the public, it doesn't matter who is the mastermind behind "water source gate". The public's only concern is whether the news is true or not.

What the article said finally turned out to be true. This led to serious losses of business for Master Kong's mineral water in less than half a year. Yet, we can hardly say that rival Nongfu Spring caused loss to Master Kong, which should have anticipated the consequences of false claims in advertisements of its products.

Nongfu Spring may have exposed the scandal, but it is undeniable that Master Kong deceived its customers, whom it has no intention of compensating. It will be long before it rebuilds its reputation after this scandal. And it would be unwise to complain about its rival instead of making up for the error of its ways.

(China Daily 06/08/2009 page4)