Someone Got That Carbody Thing Totally Wrong
Got a BMW? A little short in the nookie dept? Longing back to the olden days when a car would get you the girl? Come to China!
China’s Global Times, the English writing sister publication of the rather staid party organ People’s Daily, reports that a 24-year-old lady from Shanghai is offering herself to any man for a month in exchange for the loan of a BMW for one week.
The lady works as a clerk at a foreign company in Shanghai. Her handle is “Xiaoxia”, not to be mistaken with the similar sounding “xiao jie” which can mean “Miss” or “prostitute”, depending on who says it and who it is said to.
Xiaoxia wants to impress old classmates at an upcoming high school reunion as someone who is living the good life and is married to a wealthy man. According to Global Times, “that’s hard to do, though, as she is single and makes only 1,500 yuan ($223) a month.”
But she’s got a body, and she’s got taste. Discriminating as Chinese are, it can’t be just any bimmer. Don’t even think of showing up in a lowly 3-series, or any Made in China BMW. Bring a Z8 or an M5, and Xiaoxia is most likely yours for a month. But don’t forget the old Chinese proverb: “It’s not how much it costs for her to go with you. It’s what it costs for her to go back home.” Maybe a Roller.
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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I was told the following BMW acronyms in China after a few rounds of bai-jiu. 1. Business, Money, Women. 2. Be my wife. 3. Be my mistress. I may get in trouble, I always use Xiao-jie to call a waitress.
A month? Ack, A decent combo-plate of personality+power+toys will bag most any female on the planet. One pays a hooker to leave, not to stay...
The most important key to this story is that the girl is from Shanghai. Shanghai girls have the biggest responsibility for all Chinese girls to be tagged as gold-diggers.
Well the BMW 120 has an MSRP of about 280k RMB. So that's not a particularly expensive car and still meets both of the criteria (not made in China and not a 3 series). But anyone who has a beemer in China doesn't need to let some crazy girl borrow the car in order to get some. So really, it's just another loser who's not going to get what she wants.