Name Furor Still Clouds Project HopeOfficials of the China Youth Development Foundation remain convinced that a pharmaceutical factory tried to exploit the well-known Project Hope name for its financial gain.Foundation officials branded the Sixth Harbin Pharmaceutical Factory's explanation as insincere. "We are not satisfied with their answer. It's not a sincere one," said Tu Meng, deputy secretary of the foundation. "They didn't provide clear answers to the questions we raised in our letter." Last week, the foundation accused the factory of using Project Hope - a public welfare programme that helps dropouts in poverty-stricken areas go back to school - to promote its liquid tonic product in advertisements without the foundation's permission. Tu said factory officials said in a fax sent to the foundation that they didn't use Project Hope's trademark name in its advertisements. They just used the name of Hope Primary School. "The more than 7,000 Hope primary schools cannot be separated from Project Hope," Tu said. The head of the Harbin-based factory was not available for comment yesterday. The commercial is still being broadcast on some local TV stations, Tu said. However, CCTV has stopped airing the commercial. |
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