Local newspapers including Ming Pao Daly and Apple Daily reported that OMD issued a letter on 19 April to its sales team and MTR advising any MTR advertisements running near any negative news in newspapers should be withdrawn.
Columnists in mass media consequently criticised MTR and its largest shareholders — the Hong Kong Government — for trespassing on editorial freedom in Hong Kong if it was the case.
OMD Hong Kong issued a press release on the same day to clarify and apologised for the misunderstanding.
The press release stresses that MTR has never instructed OMD Hong Kong to tell the media what are their intentions were in term of news coverage. OMD Hong Kong has always strived to offer optimum advertising effectiveness, and the content of that letter did not reflect the principle of the company.
One source close to the news said, "This was a stupid move on OMD's part. Letters like this should not be sent out in black and white."
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