Fly on the Corporate Wall

Expect to drink way more green tea this summer than you normally would. Oishi and Ichitan, Thailand’s top producers of the stuff, are playing a game of bluff with almost identical sales campaigns.
And it’s not easy deciding which one is the copycat.
Tan Passakornnatee originated Oishi’s annual “Tour Yok Gang” promotion five years ago when he owned the firm. It obviously did wonders for sales because now Tan has launched the same campaign at Ichitan, his new business.
Except that it’s called “Ichitan Tour Yok Gang: Travel with Tan, Fun with Nose”.
To be fair to Tan, Oishi had stalled its 2012 campaign because it wanted to make sure its flood-damaged production capacity could keep up with the anticipated spike in demand.
Anyway, both campaigns are underway and drawing comparisons to those trendy populist policies that politicians dangle in front of voters.
If you buy Ichitan green tea, you might win a trip to Japan with Tan and his famously funny friend Udom “Nose” Taepanich. Your airfare and hotel room would be paid for and every winning group of four would get Bt100,000 to spend shopping.
Oishi rushed in a week later with the “Oishi Pai Tae Tua Tour Yok Gang 555” pitch, another Japanese junket but boosting the spending money to Bt500,000 per group of five and the celebrity quotient to five big-name entertainers instead of just one measly comedian.
Consumers are sitting back and enjoying the clash of titans. Neither has promised goodies this good before. Next year maybe they’ll offer a green tea trip to the moon.

Stuck on you
Thai Beverage chairman Charoen Sirivandhanabhakdi surprised Thai guests at the recent opening of his new bottle-and-glass factory in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He never once let go of his wife’s hand.
It was a sweet gesture, and a reporter asked Charoen if he’s always glued to Khunyin Wanna like that. “We can’t just pretend,” the liquor tycoon replied. “Whatever we like to do, we can’t change it.”
His opaque but clear enough answer brought smiles to everyone’s faces, including that of the woman sitting next to him.

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