» Beijing

Bright Blue Sky in Beijing

Pushkar Sane — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:35:34 +0000

I woke up to a bright blue sky in Beijing. Weather was perfect – 15 degrees – so decided to walk to office. It helped me to reflect on a few things after a very hectic & tiring day yesterday. Sometimes just getting out & spending some time fresh air helps.

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Peking Duck in Beijing v/s Hong Kong

Pushkar Sane — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:50:06 +0000

This is my successive week in Beijing. We had a management meeting today and post that we went for Chinese Dinner. Being a vegetarian I always get limited choice but its fun to watch different dishes landing on the table. A chinese dinner in Beijing is not complete without a Peking Duck – so it arrived on our table too and Ann Chan made a hilarious comment: “Peking Duck in Hong Kong is better than the one in Beijing – its bigger & more suitable for my palate”.

It kinda made me laugh and I remembered Vatsa who had the guts to order Chole/Bhatura at a South Indian joint saying it is better than the North Indian restaurants. I always laughed at him but I guess some things don’t change across cultures. You always try to justify ‘Food being Better’ based on your own palate & past habits.

AIG Ad

Pushkar Sane — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:31:39 +0000

These days I rarely read paper magazines (thanx to the Web & RSS Feeds) and as a result hardly get a chance to see advertising in it. On Thursday I was returning from Beijing, my notebook battery was dead, my iPhone battery was low and I had left my iPod at home. To add to all this it was a Dragon Air flight with no in-seat entertainment. So after a bit of dozing off & light meal I decided to flip through some magazines. As I was going through the September 29th issue of the Fortune magazine I came across an AIG Ad released in support of Students in Free Enterprise. I decided to tear off the Ad as it irritated the hell out of me. Here is what it said:

Headline: FOR STUDENTS TO SOAR, THEY NEED A GOOD FOUNDATION.

Bodycopy: AIG is proud to support Students In Free Enterprise. These next-generation business leaders go out and make a difference in their community while developing the skills to become socially responsible. As we help people achieve their financial goals, we are honoured to be associated with an organization that helps young people realize their dreams.

Brand Signoff: AIG – THE STRENGTH TO BE THERE.

I was shocked to see this ad as many things didn’t make any sense in light of what was happening at AIG over last 10 days. It really irritated me as the tall claims (Good Foundation, Difference in their Community, Socially Responsible, Achieve their Financial Goals, Realize their dreams, Strength to be there) looked like a joke on ordinary investors who put their faith in AIG.

All the financial institutes should get real otherwise one day we’ll say Lies, Damn Lies & Financial Advertising.

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