又中又英
又中又英
又中又英

pass the buck

2019/05/28 04:12:35 網誌分類: 生活
28 May
          Last week, two big Hong Kong corporations shot themselves in the foot. One was the Mass Transit Railway Corporation. The other was the Airport Authority. To shoot yourself in the foot means to do something stupid that causes you a lot of trouble. Both the MTR and Airport Authority are Hong Kong’s biggest transport companies. The government owns the Airport Authority and about 70 percent of the MTR. They shot themselves in the foot by banning a Cathay Pacific advertisement at the airport and MTR stations because it showed two gay men holding hands and strolling (walking in a relaxed way) along a beach.

          When the ban caused an uproar (angry protest) within the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community, the MTR tried to pass the buck. To pass the buck means to blame someone else or make someone else take the responsibility for something you should handle. The MTR passed the buck to an outside company which handles advertising bookings for the MTR. This is ridiculous because the outside company takes orders from the MTR. The Airport Authority kept silent during the uproar. After several days of uproar, the MTR and Airport Authority agreed to allow the gay ad. The ad is part of Cathay’s rebranding campaign called Move Beyond.

          The rebranding is intended to show that Cathay cares about all its customers, including the LGBT community. I attended the cocktail reception for the rebranding and chatted with Cathay’s CEO Rupert Hogg. This was before the uproar caused by the ban. He talked proudly about moving Cathay beyond the present to the future. One of the rebranding ads is a video with a brief scene showing two women kissing. It looked like they were getting married but this did not cause any controversy. Why are two women kissing more acceptable than two gay men holding hands? Two weeks ago, Taiwan became the first place in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage but Hong Kong’s MTR and Airport Authority tried to ban an ad showing a gay couple. They should be ashamed of themselves.

        * * *

          上星期,兩大香港公司搬了石頭砸自己的腳(shot themselves in the foot),一個是港鐵公司,另一個則是機場管理局。To shoot yourself in the foot意即去做一些愚蠢的事而自招麻煩。港鐵和機管區都是香港最大型的交通運輸公司。政府全資擁有機管局,亦持有港鐵70%的股份。他們搬石頭砸自己腳(shot themselves in the foot),是源於他們在機場和港鐵站禁止刊登一個國泰航空的廣告,因廣告上展示了兩位男同性戀者手牽手在沙灘上漫步(strolling)。

          當廣告被禁引來了LGBT(女同性戀者、男同性戀者、雙性戀者及跨性別者)群體的騷動(uproar)時,港鐵嘗試 pass the buck。To pass the buck即是去推卸責任,諉過於人。港鐵將責任推卸給(passed the buck)那為港鐵處理廣告申請的外判公司。這是荒謬的,因為外判公司也只是接收港鐵的指令。機管局則在一片鼓譟(uproar)中保持沉默。幾天的騷動(uproar)過後,港鐵和機管局終於同意放行這個同性戀的廣告。這個廣告實質是國泰的一個名為「志在飛躍」的重塑品牌運動。

          這次的品牌重塑運動,志在呈現國泰有多關心它的顧客,包括LGBT群體。我出席了這次品牌重塑的酒會,曾跟國泰的行政總裁何杲閒談。那是廣告被禁引來嘩然(uproar)之前。他自豪地談及國泰將跨越現在,推向未來。其中一個品牌重塑的廣告是一條短片,其中有兩個女人親吻的短短一幕,看起來她們要成婚了,然而這在當時卻沒有引起任何爭議。為甚麼兩個女人親吻比兩個男同性戀者手拖手更易令人接受?兩星期前,台灣成為亞洲首個容許同性婚姻合法化的地方,但香港的港鐵和機管局卻嘗試禁止一個展示同性戀情侶的廣告見街。他們好應自覺羞愧。Michael Chugani褚簡寧

        中譯:七刻

        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

        
回應 (0)
我要發表
user

網誌分類