HK audiences protest over new Sunday spot

<p>Sunday, the upstart telecommunications player in Hong Kong, is </p><p>continuing to court controversy, this time with its "Taxi Driver" </p><p>TVC. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The spot was pulled from local Chinese-language television channels </p><p>after the Broadcasting Authority (BA) received more than 1,800 </p><p>complaints from the public. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The commercial showed scenes of a taxi driver being chased by a ghost as </p><p>he was driving along a dark and lonely stretch of road. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The BA described the ad as shocking, scary and disturbing, and issued a </p><p>"serious warning" to the stations which aired it - ATV Home, TVB Jade </p><p>and Cable TV. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Sunday, however, denied the spot was pulled due to public reaction or </p><p>the BA warning. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Public relations manager Mark Chan said the message had been </p><p>successfully conveyed and that as a result, it was time to end the </p><p>airing of the television ad. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He also defended the attention-grabbing tactics used: "It was </p><p>appropriate given the fact that the target audience was mainly 'night </p><p>owls'." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The spot was created by BBDO and co-ECD Paul Chan expressed regret over </p><p>the BA warning, saying that just under 2,000 complaints from a total </p><p>population of more than six million people was an extremely small </p><p>number. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Other CDs said there was nothing wrong with the TVC. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>TBWA Greater China head of creative Raymond Chau described Hong Kong </p><p>people as "stuffy" and that there was nothing to be frightened of. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Society is not tolerant to creative ideas ... The issue would </p><p>discourage the enthusiasm of creative directors," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Leo Burnett CD Victor Manggunio said he "couldn't understand what the </p><p>big fuss was all about". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He added that, compared with the population of Hong Kong, it was only "a </p><p>few people" who were upset. He also agreed that Hong Kong people lacked </p><p>a sense of humour. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>