GM China Not Good For $144.80?
You think only in America will someone be crazy enough to pour coffee in her crotch and then sue McDonalds for selling hot coffee? Come to China for some real crazy. Chinese businessman Yuan Jiguang bought himself a Cadillac. If that wasn’t crazy enough, Mr. Yuang drove his Caddy into a truck. The airbags didn’t deem the collision severe enough to deserve deployment. Yuan Jiguang banged his nose on the windshield and ended up with a doctor’s bill of 989.89 yuan ($144.80). China’s doctors are cheap. Then Yuan Jiguang went to the local court in Jiangxi province. And whom did he sue?
GM for a severe case of whiplash? Think again. He filed a complaint against Olympic hurdler and gold medalist Liu Xiang, on the grounds that Liu Xiang had endorsed the Caddy. We are not making this up.
“Liu’s advert had a great influence on my choice of car,” Yuan told the New Legal Report (as related by Reuters). “I want to send a warning message to all the celebrities that they can not only focus on the payment and neglect their social responsibility and public trust.”
Now Mr. Yuan either completely lost his mind during the accident, or he’s so in tune with the times that he reckons that a Chinese jock celebrity has deeper pockets than GM. You decide.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Trial over ten minute.
What do you call 10,000 lawyers floating face down at the bottom of the ocean? A start. Having said that, the "Overlawering" website has an ax to grind of some sort and doesn't mind shoveling it's opinions as fact. Do not go there for an honest evaluation of the McD Coffee suit. You get cherry-picked bits that do not address the fact that serving scorching hot coffee is stupid, dangerous, and actionable. That is what was rulled on. The reason Starbucks sells more coffee is because it is hotter than McDonalds. Good Grief. Brew your coffee at any temperature you want. My Bunn does it at 197 degrees. Serve it at 135 to 145 degrees, ready to drink. My Bunn does it at 143, just about the upper limit before it burns the roof of the mouth.
I cut myself with a kitchen knife once, should I have sued? Should the manufacturers now only make dull knives? I'm just asking.
Stingray : March 25th, 2009 at 10:04 am I want to send a warning message to all the celebrities that they can not only focus on the payment and neglect their social responsibility and public trust. Socialism *rolleyes* *sigh* TW4T! That's capitalism on steroids.