China:

Oh China, where do I even begin? In the first ever Foush triple whammy, China is not in my good books this week.

1) Faking fireworks with CGI

Some of the fireworks viewed in the television footage were computer generated images. The thought behind this move was that the real fireworks (that did go off live) wouldn’t translate appropriately on camera so the Chinese government took the liberty of “enhancing” our video experience.

2) Replacing cute Asian little girl with CUTER Asian little girl

It was also discovered that the little girl singing the above song in the Opening Ceremonies was actually lipsynching to the voice of another little girl who was deemed by a Chinese official as not having the “right look.” Her cheeks were too chubby and her teeth were too crooked, so she was replaced at the last minute by a cuter little girl. This is really awful. I thought they were both cute, and did not approve of the superficiality of that stupid decision. That poor little girl. I wonder what’s going to happen to her self-image when she’s old enough (if she isn’t already) to realize that she didn’t have “the look.” Or the message that move sends to the millions of other little girls that don’t have that “right look” either. In an era where women are already hyper-aware of their image, this decision could have some sad consequences.

3) Deporting Bloggers

As mentioned in my previous post, Noneck, a video blogger was deported from the country after capturing a protest in Tienanmen square.

Am I the only one really disturbed by these events? I know China is under tremendous pressure and scrutiny from the world especially in regards to their human rights record, but honestly, faking it/sweeping it under the rug only serves to highlight the issue. Even small incidents can hugely detract from other positive efforts. The internet is a place of transparency and openness. It’s not as easy to fool people anymore, and with all eyes on you, you can bet someone is going to notice if you’re up to no good.

Coke

Coke employees fired for following management’s instructions

Shel Holtz recently shed light on a really bizarre situation happening over at Coke, not to mention hugely questionable management decisions.

I quote:

According to workers who got the ax, they had been asked by management to participate in the ”My Coke Rewards” promotion, that lets registered consumers exchange points for merchandise. The outreach to employees was designed to boost a disappointing number of visits to the promotion’s website. More visits would lead to higher search visibility and more attention. Frank Grant, an 11-year employee, said the request came about six months after the program was launched, when employees were expressly told not to take part in it.

When the company changed its mind and asked employees to help boost site traffic, nobody bothered to point out the fine print, which said employees were not allowed to accumulate more than 2,000 points in a year. When Grant became aware of the limit—which he had exceeded—he offered to return the merchandise he’d acquired or pay the company its value. Instead, he was offered the choice to resign or get fired.

If you’re scratching your head, you’re not the only one. You read it right: Coke asked employees to participate in a contest, employees unknowingly accumulated too many points, they offered to give them back since they were following management orders in the first place, and were told to either resign or get fired. Once again, Coke has spectacularly demonstrated it’s lack of understanding of not only social media, but of treating its workers (some of whom have been with the company for over a decade) with respect and dignity.

I first heard about this story from New Media Jim via Twitter. Blogger Noel Hidalgo, also known as Noneck, was in Beijing as an independent journalist and blogger when he came across a protest in Tiananmen Square by a group called Free Tibet 2008.

When he was spotted filming the protest, he found himself shoved up against the wall and detained by Chinese security. Five hours later he was deported, with the flight home credited on his credit card courtesy of the Chinese Police. Here is his video below, which already has over forty thousand views. As you can see, the protest seems pretty tame with some of the other events that have unfolded over there, but apparently, it was enough to make the Chinese police nervous.

I had the chance to speak with Noel about his experiences, particularly the four hours spent with Chinese police officials (the topic of human rights comes up) as well as some rather odd technological glitches that have plagued him since his return. His Facebook and twitter updates have been mysteriously replaced with some cryptic codes.

Some notes before you view:

1) This is raw footage, I was going to play around with it and make it all shiny and new, but I chose to upload the information in a timely manner instead. So apologies in advance for the gritty quality that is iChat.

2) It’s a bit long at just under 13 minutes, but I also wanted to dig deeper into some questions that would not have been addressed by other sources. I think Noel’s story is an excellent highlight of the situation over in China that is getting glossed over in favor of Olympic news, and that’s it’s really important to educate ourselves about the state of human rights in countries all over the world.

If anything, this incident shows me the actual scope of how important it is for China to keep these incidents under wraps- a troubling realization. We’re all on this rock in space together, so we might as well make an effort to make the ride more pleasant for everyone.

Ironically, once again it seems that trying to suppress an issue will in fact, only highlight it. I wonder how many of us would have seen the protest video had Noel NOT been deported?