Hanoi says to punish electronics store for bikini show
Authorities in Hanoi said on Friday they will punish an electronics store for inappropriately promoting its business with women in swimwear.
To Van Dong, head of the city’s culture department, told local media that managers of Tran Anh Electronics Supermarket have been ordered to report on the case.
He said inspectors will also look into other promotional campaigns and advertisements of the company.
After many people were upset by the controversial appearances of a group of women in bikinis at the shop on Thursday, the managers claimed that they were only filming "sex education videos."
In an interview with Thanh Nien on Friday morning, Ngo Thanh Dat, marketing manager at Tran Anh, denied allegations that this was a promotional ploy to attract the male gaze and lure in customers.
He insisted that rival companies were trying to "defame" his store and that his company had good intention.
“Young Vietnamese people have not been provided with appropriate sex education... so we want to make a series of sex education videos,” said Dat.
The manager did not elaborate on the content of the series and in what way the women in bikinis can teach young people about safe sex practices.
In several videos posted on YouTube and dozens of photos online, the women can be seen helping a customer park his motorbike and standing and waving next to products.
Lawyer Nguyen Thach Thao said the promotional campaign may have violated the Law on Advertising, which prohibits advertisements and acts that are deemed offensive in the Vietnamese culture.