A SUBSIDIARY of real estate giant Wanda Group has been fined 344,700 yuan (US$49,700) for printing an advertisement for red scarves — a symbol of the Chinese Young Pioneers — and distributing them to students. Wanda Plaza Business Administration Corp. was told to stop running the promotion, which aimed to drum up interest in a new shopping mall in Heze, Shandong Province, news website Dazhong reported Saturday. Netizens criticized the company last month when it emerged that Wanda employees had handed out red scarves emblazoned with ads to students at Danyanglu Primary School during a road safety awareness event. Red neckerchiefs are traditionally worn by the Young Pioneers, a group founded by the Communist Party of China in 1949 for children ages 6 to 14. The scarves represent the national flag and symbolize China’s revolutionary tradition. “The company’s actions not only seriously affected students’ studies, values and psychological health but also violated China’s Advertisement Law,” the market regulation administration of Heze’s economic development zone said in a notice over the weekend. Wanda apologized for the incident Sept. 29 and said the three senior managers responsible had been fired. Lyu Yongmei, the principal of Danyanglu Primary School, received a “serious warning” from the zone’s Party committee for allowing commercial activities to take place on school grounds. (China Daily) |