On 3/11, I, along with fellow residents of Japan, went through quite an incredible, and terrifying earthquake. Tokyo rocked and swayed it's way through, but luckily we were spared from the tsunami that hit northern parts of Japan. During the quake, I along with my office, evacuated, running down flights of stairs to get outside. We went to a local hotel car park and waited and experienced aftershocks at huge levels. We also moved off and made our respective ways home, some taking 10+ hours to do a journey that would usually be less than 1 hour. During that time, many of us did not know of the destruction that was going on up north, and saw it ourselves for the first time on TV, like all those out of Japan. A truly horrible experience. I am still in Tokyo as I write this, and am hoping for the reactors in Fukushima to be finally put under safe control Let's hope.
Not surprisingly, I haven't felt the desire to blog. But one thing I would like to show you is the following in Campaign Asia about MediaCorp. Sometimes, people just need to step back and THINK before emailing. I look forward to reading about a donation to the relief of victims of this disaster.
Reported in Campaign:
Major broadcaster MediaCorp has issued an apology for its e-mail urging advertisers to book ad spots around Channel NewsAsia’s coverage of the Japan earthquake and tsunami.
Friday afternoon saw an EDM sent out to potential and existing advertising clients notifying them of the disaster and the availability of airtime around news reports.
The e-mail, from Corinne Chong vice-president of marketing communications at MediaCorp, reads as follows, “A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake shook Japan in the early afternoon today, unleashing a powerful tsunami that wrecked havoc along the streets of coastal towns. Book your spots in the Weekday Evening News Bundle as the channel brings viewers comprehensive coverage reports on the disaster with extended versions of news bulletins tonight. Call our sales representatives now.”
Prominent blogger Mr Brown posted the e-mail late afternoon on Friday, prompting a slew of comments and criticisms across blog sites and social media.
MediaCorp then issued the following statement of apology from Edwin Koh, senior vice-president of marketing and sales.
“Netizens have criticised an electronic direct mail (EDM) sent by MediaCorp Marketing Communications canvassing for advertisements on Channel NewsAsia, shortly after the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan yesterday."
“We apologise unreservedly if we had been seen to be insensitive to the gravity of the situation. The staff concerned has been counselled to be more circumspect, we hope the public will be forgiving and we can focus our attention and efforts on the affected victims of this most unfortunate tragedy,” added Koh.
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