Celebrity Sell Out

Girls Aloud enjoy a break

It is a rare thing to find the Chinese government’s laws praised by the international community. However there are exceptions to every rule. In this case the powers in Beijing have taken time off from wiping out Tibet to go after a more worthy adversary. Endorsement hungry sell-out celebrities.

A new food safety law says that celebrities will be held liable if a food they are advertising is found to be unsafe. Marvellous. The law comes into effect in June and is already putting a dent into the wallets of numerous Chinese celebs. These include TV presenter Ni Ping who lent his image to an ad campaign for chestnut juice, a product made by the company that sold poisoned milk.

Not a bad law, it has to be said, after all this is the country that makes fake chicken eggs from plastic. But maybe there is good reason to have such a law here in the UK, if only to keep Girls Aloud (Kit Kat) off our screens, ditto Duffy (Diet Coke) and help force Matt Dawson (Young’s) into getting a proper job. And the ideal punishment? To make them eat their own products of course.