|
¡@
Government takes ECFA marketing blitz to
trains
¡¥ENOUGH IS ENOUGH¡¦: Some commuters exposed to government
ads on trains said that they perceived the ad campaign as an intrusion in their
every day affairs
By Vincent Y. Chao
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Apr 16, 2010, Page 3
¡@
A resident of Mudan Township in Pingtung
County yesterday signs a petition organized by Chung Yi-hao, left, head of the
Taiwan Solidarity Union¡¦s Hengchun District, calling for a referendum on the
economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA). Chung said he had been greatly
encouraged by the number of people coming forward to sign the petition.
PHOTO: TSAI TSONG-HSIEN, TAIPEI TIMES
Seeing a movie, traveling on public transportation or taking the train may have
more in common than people think. That¡¦s because all of these activities now
involve infomercials on the government¡¦s proposed economic cooperation framework
agreement (ECFA) with China.
Government authorities have asked that electronic information displays in Taipei
Main Station and trains operated by the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) run
ECFA infomercials. Messages scrolling on the information displays include: ¡§ECFA
is to protect Taiwan and is a road to the rest of the world,¡¨ and ¡§ECFA is to
help people do business and increase Taiwan¡¦s economic competitiveness.¡¨
MOVIE THEATERS
Moviegoers heading to a theater to catch the latest movie will now also be
treated to a minute-long commercial touting the benefits of the ECFA in between
movie previews.
Speaking in a telephone interview with the Taipei Times yesterday, an official
in charge of movie content at the Government Information Office said the
Council of Labor Affairs had asked to insert a commercial called ¡§Guarding the
nation¡¦s sovereignty¡¨ before all movies broadcast in theaters nationwide.
¡¥PUBLC SERVICE¡¦
¡§The commercial is broadcast as part of a three-minute time span allocated for
public messages,¡¨ said the official, who did not wish to be named. ¡§Its purpose
is to market the ECFA and it will be played until the end of April.¡¨
A quick survey of commuters at Taipei Main Station found that many members of
the public are strongly against the ads, with some saying that they see it as
government intrusion in their everyday affairs.
¡§I have no problem with the ads appearing in banks, government offices and other
places that are actually related to the ECFA. But in movie theaters, trains and
even some hospitals? I think enough is enough,¡¨ said a middle-aged commuter
surnamed Chen.
¡§During our train ride, we kept seeing the [ECFA ads] scroll in front of our
faces ¡K and it took away from actually useful information, like what the next
stop was,¡¨ said an elderly woman surnamed Tsai, who had just alighted from a
train from Yilan County.
¡@
|
