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Group launches Want
Want snacks boycott
DON¡¦T WANT IT: Campaigners are urging people to
boycott food produced by the media giant during ¡¥ghost month,¡¦ when many offer
snacks and drinks to their deceased
By Hu Ching-hui and Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporters
The Youth Alliance against the Media Monster, an alliance composed mostly of
students against the acquisition by the Want Want China Times Group of China
Network System¡¦s (CNS) cable television services, has launched a campaign to
boycott all Want Want products during ¡§ghost month.¡¨
The ¡§Say No to Want Want in the Ghost Month¡¨ campaign calls on supporters to
boycott snacks and drinks produced by Want Want when purchasing offerings used
to pay respect to the dead during the annual event.
According to Chinese tradition, ¡§ghost month,¡¨ which falls on the seventh month
of the lunar calendar, is a period during which the spirits of the dead are
permitted to leave their underworld homes and enter the human world once more.
During this month, it is customary for people to provide offering of food and
drinks to the spirits, so they enjoy themselves during their one-month vacation
and do not do anything bad to the living.
This year¡¦s ghost month starts on Aug. 18 at midnight and ends on Sept. 17 at
midnight.
The alliance also plans to hold brief rallies outside supermarkets to advertise
the campaign at 30 different locations at the same time on Friday.
Originally one of the nation¡¦s biggest snacks and drinks companies, the Want
Want Group became a media giant after the merger of the Want Want Group with the
China Times Group in 2009.
Currently, the Want Want China Times Group owns a chain of major media
operations, including the China Times, China Times Weekly magazine, Want Daily,
Cti-TV and China Television Co.
When Want Want expressed its intention to acquire CNS¡¦ cable TV services, it
raised concerns that the firm would command a media monopoly.
After the National Communications Commission conditionally approved the
acquisition late last month, Want Want chairman Tsai Eng-meng (½²l©ú) denied he
had agreed to the conditions set by the commission during negotiations with the
group.
Want Want Group then triggered another public uproar after several media outlets
which are owned by the group launched a campaign criticizing those opposed to
the merger, and filed reports implying that Academia Sinica research fellow
Huang Kuo-chang (¶À°ê©÷) had paid students to take part in an anti-Want Want
demonstration, which was later proven to have had no connection to Huang.
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