Published by Swiss James on 14 May 2008 at 12:07 pm
Top Secret
Here’s a fun sign:
Now let’s have a quiz
[poll=4]
Obviously you have to vote before you look at the “Read More…” bit below otherwise you’re a cheat and a scoundrel.
I won’t know if you’ve cheated, but you will and how will you feel then?
Aha! It’s at Yamasaki in Jing-An temple metro station. They’re probably worried that people will take photos of their prices and realise that 15RMB for a loaf of bread is somewhat extortionate (especially when you probably pay the staff 8RMB an hour).
Tasty though, I had marmalade on toast this morning.
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It’s pretty common in most types of retail stores around Asia, no? I once got yelled at in Tokyo for taking a photo of a big sign in Tower Records that said “Black Music” (I was in the hip-hop section)
this whole secrecy in retail outlets is one of my pet peeves*. When I was in Hong Kong I was talking to a woman who ran a shop that let you sleep in a little chair thing for 20 minutes whilst relaxing music played.
It seemed like a good idea to and I was going to write about it to say “Hey I hope this comes to Shanghai” or whatever- you know, free publicity. The woman minding the chairs didn’t mind but then some other witch came up and told me I couldn’t take photos.
I was steaming mad and stormed off- then I was in another shop in the same little mall place and the owner was saying “Oh and I also have these chairs upstairs that you can sleep in”
“Oh yes, I saw them and wanted to take a photo so I could write about them, but the girl up there with the black t-shirt on said I wasn’t allowed.”
“Did she? Oh dear that’s..”
Hopefully she got the sack. Or shot out of a big canon or something.
Bloody hell I wrote a whole page about this and the clicked SUBMIT and it was all lost.
Basically it is entirely understandable. There is so much intellectual property theft in China that the last thing they want is people ripping off their idea or concep and replicating it (badly).
It’s no different in England. Try walking into Tesco and start photographing the shelf displays.
When we do in store surveys we need to inform the store manager and show a letter from his head office so he knows we’re there legitimately and not from a competitor doing price checks.
Do they forbid people from remembering what the prices were? Writing it down in a notepad? Talking about 2-4-1 deals on shampoo once they leave the shop?
I could understand if it was Macy’s Christmas display windows or something and they’d spent ages on it- but surely anyone who gave a toss would just buy a selection of bread things, take them out of the shop, and then photograph them. All of the prices would be on the receipt anyway!
have often photographed the shelves in tesco- hum, gotta get myself a new hobby
Yes, you can try to remember everything but it’s a lot harder. It’s like we sometimes do freebie presentations to prospective clients and we don’t leave them the presentation file but they can take notes if they want.
Writing things down could draw attention and you might be questioned about what you were doing. Of course it depends on the store and whether anyone notices. One of my clients used to walk along the aisle, dial her own voicemail and speak the prices of competitor brands into her message box to avoid attracting attention. Of course she could buy one of every product and spend a bit of money.
Misbels have you tried Sainsbury just for a change of scenery?
missbels- it’s sometimes hard to make a decision in an English supermarket what with all the choices for cheese, wine etc. (especially after living in the Korean sticks for so long)
Do you take the photos so that you can make informed choices in the peace of your own home?
WoAi- hmm- well you’ve sort of got a point, I still think it’s daft though.
Don’t you lot have camera-phones? Some even have videos on them you know
Neil it won’t take long for someone to figure out what you’re doing with a camera phone.
James – When I worked at Black and Decker UK in Slough we’d often buy competitor power tools (Bosch) and marvel at how smooth and quiet they were and try to figure out why. It’s not uncommon for companies to do this.
If someone ever says “no photos” to me, I just distract them with a loud “what’s that!” and keep snapping away. There’s not much someone can do to stop you taking photos of something.
the Chinese police hace a shoot to kill policy on camera-phones I think.
So WoAi you’re saying that Bosch power tools are much better than Black and Decker huh? Good to know
maxiwawa- it’s a good plan, but they normally just put their hand in front of my lens and say
“Lady toilet, you go now”
In public places they have no right to stop you but of course they’re allowed to turn away or cover their faces. But in a store or a restaurant they do legally have the right to prohibit photography as well as funnily enough, cinemas.
James – Hotdogs and caviar, hotdogs and caviar. But DeWalt make pretty good radial arm saws if you’re interested.
marmalade on toast? you should have had a bowl of quaker oats, just for the topical jape.
SJ I wish I’d seen your blog before I went to Shanghai last week – especially for all the food photos and tips. I wrote some stuff on my blog about the trip:
http://www.icis.com/blogs/icis-chemicals-confidential/files/2008/05/surreal-moments-in-shanghai-1.html
http://www.icis.com/blogs/icis-chemicals-confidential/files/2008/05/shanghais-royal-flush-.html
I’ll keep an eye on your recommendations for my next trip.
Byeee
I believe that the photos were taken to torment those still in korea who get excited if they can find one block of cheese in the supermarket
sainsburys is a bit far away- but I might give it a go, thanks for the advice
boz you gibbon, this is serious.
If there’s the potential for Chinese to figure out how to copy some decent-tasting bread, let them take all the bloody photos they need, I say.
That’s bollocks that, I once had a Bosch drill and I threw it out of my flat window and it made a right racket
Neil – Fair point. I guess when we tested the Bosch we forgot to include that particular “throw out window” test and focused mainly on you know, drilling stuff.
Neil- next time open the window first yeah?
Bazza- I hear you, had some horrible buttery sweet bread from Family Mart this morning. Go down to Paul or Yamazaki with a spy camera and a notepad Family Mart!
WoAi- what kind of shoddy tests are those?
Don’t patronise me, I’ve been to Finland.
but have you been to the baby massage parlour on Changle Lu?
They have a big open glass front where you can see the puzzled looking infants being worked on. Odd.