Lancome, Watsons and Listerine face fresh controversy following Denise Ho associations
Lancome has had to close stores and has faced protests after it cancelled a gig by Canto-pop star Denise Ho last week.
The brand has become embroiled in and sits center stage of a political tussle, which stems from the singers outspoken views on politics in Hong Kong and mainland China.
It had to shut stores, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), after demonstrators took to protesting outside the shops because they were angry at the brand's decision to distance itself from Ho and her views, including some pan-Democrat lawmakers.
On Mainland China many aren’t in support of Denise Ho and her views and are instead planning boycotts of all brands that are still associated with the singer or have publicly come out in support of her.
According to the SMCP, the complaints may have started with music app Moov, which is linked to the star and made comments that it would “ employ Denise Ho permanently”. This has angered some people, who have said that they’d boycott any brand associated with Moov’s owner PCCW, a company run by Richard Li Tzar-kai, son of Li Ka-shing (Hong Kong’s richest person and chairman of CK Hutchinson Holdings).
Brands associated with the family include Moov, Watsons, Johnson and Johnson, and Listerine, of which Denise Ho is also directly linked to as she featured in a recent ad campaign about being ‘bold’. A spokesperson for PCCW told the SCMP that it supported “freedom of expression” but that it was opposed to the separation of Hong Kong.