The Fair Trade Commission initiated the investigation of the activity "2004 Michael Jordan's Asia Trip - The Show" held by BRS Nike Taiwan Inc., a possible violation of the Fair Trade Law

Chinese Taipei

Case:

Keywords:

sufficient to affect trading order, Nike Taiwan Inc., Michael Jordan

Reference:

Fair Trade Commission Decision of October 21, 2004 (the 676th Commissioners'Meeting), Disposition Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 093073

Industry:

Other Sporting Services (8749)

Relevant Law:

Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. The case originated from the opinions expressed by the general public and the reports of newspapers stating that during the activity "2004 Michael Jordan's Asia Trip - The Show" (hereinafter referred to as "the Show") held by BRS Nike Taiwan Inc. (hereinafter referred to "Nike Taiwan"), the famous NBA basketball player, Michael Jordan, only presented for less than 2 minutes at the site of the activity. It was inconsistent with the prior statement made by Nike Taiwan who proclaimed that Michael Jordan would interact with his fans from short distance. Such a conduct might involve in false advertisement or concealment of trading information. In order to maintain trading order and protect consumers'interests, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) initiated the investigation.

2. Upon the investigation, the FTC found that: The content of the retail store activity, the Show, held by Nike Taiwan, was that consumers must purchase the products of Brand Jordan to obtain the lottery tickets for winning the admission of the Show. Thus, the activity of the Show was definitely a trading activity involving the market competition order. The duration of the Show was from May 7 to 16. In light of the press release issued by Nike Taiwan on May 9, it is clearly stated that "'2004 Michael Jordan's Asia Trip - The Show'in Taipei- Jordan will hold a press conference in Taipei at first on (May) 22, and then he will attend the site of the activity '2004 Michael Jordan's Asia Trip - The Show,'which is especially designed by Nike Taiwan for his fans in Chinese Taipei. '2004 Michael Jordan's Asia Trip - The Show'will take place for nearly 1 hour. In addition to an exhibition of Jordan's products and a release of 2004 autumn and winter collections of Jordan Brand, the fans will have the opportunity to see Michael Jordan in person. Every guest will receive an invitation and enter the site with their VIP cards." The press release disclosed the information that the Show was a nearly one-hour activity and that everyone who participated in the activity would be able to see Michael Jordan in person at the scene of the Show. It was also found that Taipei was the third stop of Michael Jordan's Asia trip. In addition to the widely broadcasting the activity of the Show before Michael Jordan arrived in Chinese Taipei, the respondent also employed the pictures of Michael Jordan when he interacted with the fans during his visit in Beijing and Hong Kong through televisions and print media for the purpose of promotion. The respondent cleverly transformed the image of a basketball star into a spokesperson of consumer goods. It successfully established recognition for the consumers to feel like having the same celebrity quality by having the products of Brand Jordan and attracted many people in Chinese Taipei to participate in the activity of the Show. This fact was evidenced by the daily average turnover (of Brand Jordan of 30 retail stores) that grew by 616.05% during the activity of the Show. It was obvious to see the high expectation that the local fans held toward the Show at which the respondent claimed that everyone would be able to see Michael Jordan in person. Although the respondent arranged 5 minutes for Michael Jordan to talk about the journey of his success and the encouragement he received when he was young to encourage his fans as the opening for the Show, the respondent did not consider the expectation of the fans and failed to fully communicate with Michael Jordan about the duration of his presence in the Show. Therefore, Michael Jordan only appeared at the scene for 90 seconds instead of 5 minutes as planned by the respondent. Moreover, the reason that the local consumers would be willing to purchase Brand Jordan products and participate in the lottery to win the tickets was that they expected the time to have real interactions with Michael Jordan at the scene of the Show. However, Michael Jordan only appeared for 90 seconds, which was conspicuously in consistent with the duration (1 hour) claimed by the respondent in the press release, and caused a huge drop in the expectation of the consumers that participated in the Show.

3. Grounds for the disposition: During the activity of the Show from May 7 to 16, the daily average turnover (of Brand Jordan) of the respondent's 30 retail stores grew by 616.05%. It was obvious to see that it was the activity of the Show that greatly elevated the sales amount of Brand Jordan products and affected the trading opportunities of other competition brands. Therefore, it was evidenced that the conspicuously unfair conduct made by the respondent in the activity of the Show was sufficient to affect market trading order in violation of Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law. Moreover, after considering the respondent's motivation, purpose, and expected benefits of the conduct, the degree and duration of the harm to trading order, benefits derived on account of the unlawful conduct, scale, condition, and market position of the enterprise, remorse shown for the conduct, and its attitude of cooperation in the investigation in accordance with Article 36 of the Enforcement Rules of the Fair Trade Law, the Commission imposed an administrative fine of NT$ 1,000,000 on the respondent.

Summarized by Shue, Ching-Shung;

Supervised by Lu, Li-Na

Appendix:

BRS NIKE TAIWAN INC.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 23928993

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1.	The case originated from the opinions expressed by the general public and the reports of newspapers stating that during the activity "2004 Michael Jordan's Asia Trip - The Show" (hereinafter referred to as "the Show") held by BRS Nike Taiwan Inc. (hereinafter referred to "Nike Taiwan"), the famous NBA basketball player, Michael Jordan, only presented for less than 2 minutes at the site of the activity. It was inconsistent with the prior statement made by Nike Taiwan who proclaimed that Michael Jordan would interact with his fans from short distance. Such a conduct might involve in false advertisement or concealment of trading information. In order to maintain trading order and protect consumers'interests, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) initiated the investigation.
2.	Upon the investigation, the FTC found that: The content of the retail store activity, the Show, held by Nike Taiwan, was that consumers must purchase the products of Brand Jordan to obtain the lottery tickets for winning the admission of the Show. Thus, the activity of the Show was definitely a trading activity involving the market competition order. The duration of the Show was from May 7 to 16. In light of the press release issued by Nike Taiwan on May 9, it is clearly stated that "'2004 Michael Jordan's Asia Trip - The Show'in Taipei- Jordan will hold a press conference in Taipei at first on (May) 22, and then he will attend the site of the activity '2004 Michael Jordan's Asia Trip - The Show,'which is especially designed by Nike Taiwan for his fans in Chinese Taipei. '2004 Michael Jordan's Asia Trip - The Show'will take place for nearly 1 hour. In addition to an exhibition of Jordan's products and a release of 2004 autumn and winter collections of Jordan Brand, the fans will have the opportunity to see Michael Jordan in person. Every guest will receive an invitation and enter the site with their VIP cards." The press release disclosed the information that the Show was a nearly one-hour activity and that everyone who participated in the activity would be able to see Michael Jordan in person at the scene of the Show. It was also found that Taipei was the third stop of Michael Jordan's Asia trip. In addition to the widely broadcasting the activity of the Show before Michael Jordan arrived in Chinese Taipei, the respondent also employed the pictures of Michael Jordan when he interacted with the fans during his visit in Beijing and Hong Kong through televisions and print media for the purpose of promotion. The respondent cleverly transformed the image of a basketball star into a spokesperson of consumer goods. It successfully established recognition for the consumers to feel like having the same celebrity quality by having the products of Brand Jordan and attracted many people in Chinese Taipei to participate in the activity of the Show. This fact was evidenced by the daily average turnover (of Brand Jordan of 30 retail stores) that grew by 616.05% during the activity of the Show. It was obvious to see the high expectation that the local fans held toward the Show at which the respondent claimed that everyone would be able to see Michael Jordan in person. Although the respondent arranged 5 minutes for Michael Jordan to talk about the journey of his success and the encouragement he received when he was young to encourage his fans as the opening for the Show, the respondent did not consider the expectation of the fans and failed to fully communicate with Michael Jordan about the duration of his presence in the Show. Therefore, Michael Jordan only appeared at the scene for 90 seconds instead of 5 minutes as planned by the respondent. Moreover, the reason that the local consumers would be willing to purchase Brand Jordan products and participate in the lottery to win the tickets was that they expected the time to have real interactions with Michael Jordan at the scene of the Show. However, Michael Jordan only appeared for 90 seconds, which was conspicuously in consistent with the duration (1 hour) claimed by the respondent in the press release, and caused a huge drop in the expectation of the consumers that participated in the Show.
3.	Grounds for the disposition: During the activity of the Show from May 7 to 16, the daily average turnover (of Brand Jordan) of the respondent's 30 retail stores grew by 616.05%. It was obvious to see that it was the activity of the Show that greatly elevated the sales amount of Brand Jordan products and affected the trading opportunities of other competition brands. Therefore, it was evidenced that the conspicuously unfair conduct made by the respondent in the activity of the Show was sufficient to affect market trading order in violation of Article 24 of the Fair Trade Law. Moreover, after considering the respondent's motivation, purpose, and expected benefits of the conduct, the degree and duration of the harm to trading order, benefits derived on account of the unlawful conduct, scale, condition, and market position of the enterprise, remorse shown for the conduct, and its attitude of cooperation in the investigation in accordance with Article 36 of the Enforcement Rules of the Fair Trade Law, the Commission imposed an administrative fine of NT$ 1,000,000 on the respondent.