Cellphone PR stunt turns sour

HANOI: The driver of a pick-up truck that carried a girl inside a glass box for a cellphone retailer’s PR stunt has been fined for traffic offences, a local police official said this week.

Dinh Manh Ha must pay a fine of 900 000 Vietnamese dong ($40, about R534) for illegally carrying people, according to a spokesman for the Hanoi Traffic Police Department.

“His driving licence was also revoked for two months,” Vu Van Hoai said. The driver admitted his violation, Hoai said, adding many drivers do not fully understand that such actions violate traffic laws.

Last Thursday, Vietnamese cellphone store operator The Gioi Di Dong was also fined for the campaign which saw a female model in a silver dress carried around Hanoi on a pick-up truck inside a glass box.

The Hanoi culture department found the advertising “inappropriate to the capital’s cultural values” and decided to fine the firm 6 million Vietnamese dong.

Photos and videos capturing the PR stunt have gone viral online in Vietnam, igniting debate on whether the campaign was appropriate or not. – dpa