The newspaper Southern Weekend reported that the message, "Fatal flu happening in Guangdong", was sent around 40 million times in a day and then about 86 million times over the next two days. This frantic thumbing was happening all while the Government was denying that Sars even existed.
I learned about the Rolling Stones Beijing tour cancellation from a friend by SMS. Later, I got an SMS from a news source saying the WHO were coming.
Immediately after, I got one from a friend saying that The WHO were performing in place of The Stones and were playing 'Won't get fooled again'.
That rumour unfortunately didn't seem to get very far, but others spread faster and further than Sars. Some were farcical but somehow acquired a sort of legitimacy because they had been forwarded so much. One went around (and around) proclaiming that, "Smoking and drinking can prevent Sars". People believed it because so many others got the same. (Oh yeah, and while you're at it, be sure to eat plenty of deep-fried foods to ward off cancer, too.) Some SMS were taken as jokes and spread like wildfire just the same. One announced a newly-built, restful resort with white garbed hostesses just outside of Beijing. This 'resort' was actually the 1,000 bed Sars hospital. The Government eventually cracked down on SMS rumour mongering and some people were detained, but it seems the wave of messages naturally subsided along with the overall panic.
Value-added wireless services were also affected. Many ad campaigns and events were put on hold ultimately affecting the mobile marketing elements of those campaigns. Also, many movie theatres were shut down and magazine sales slumped during May causing SMS partnerships with movies and magazines to feel the pinch. Balancing that, however, most people found their entertainment outlets closer to home. Portals as well as TV shows offering SMS services saw spikes in SMS traffic as users clicked their mice, remote controls and phones in earnest.
SMS was even used in the battle against Sars. Wireless service providers offered SMS subscription services with up-to-date Sars info. We worked with Yao Ming (NBA all-star) and Shanghai Television to launch China's first telethon called 'Stars vs Sars'. Users sent in SMS about Sars to a dedicated service code. All entered a lucky draw and selected comments were scrolled across the screen during the broadcast. Each message was billed as a donation for the China Red Cross. Hundreds of thousands were exchanged. A very new meaning to 'viral' marketing.
