Chapter 125 – Product placement (Part 1)
Today was an important day for Li Shiyou. He was rated as a Provincial Advanced Worker. There will be an interview with the TV station, and this interview will be aired together with other Advanced Workers on the news. The whole interview would also be broadcast on a talk show in the evenings. He got at least 10 minutes of airtime.
When Feng Yu heard this news, he immediately rushed to the Motor Factory. He was not there to congratulate Li Shiyou, but he felt that this was an opportunity not to be missed.
When the camera was in position, Feng Yu knocked on the office door and entered. Li Shiyou was surprised. What’s the urgency which made Feng Yu to barged in during his interview with the TV station’s reporters?
Feng Yu whispered somethings into Li Shiyou’s ear, and Li Shiyou’s eyes widen. Can he really do this? He had rehearsed the questions and answers with the reporters. Would it be too much if he changes it last minute?
Feng Yu told Li Shiyou what to do, and this concerns the profits of the whole Motor Factory. Additional, it will not affect the interview too. What’s there to be afraid of?
Li Shiyou nodded. He asked the reporters to wait a while and left his office to speak to his secretary.
5 minutes later, his secretary opened the door and over a dozen factory worker came in, each carrying a big box. They placed the boxes behind his desk, covering the whole bookshelf.
The boxes were stacked higher and higher. Feng Yu ran over to the camera and looked from the camera angle. Very nice. The boxes had covered the whole background, and the pictures on the boxes were visible.
Feng Yu also opened the box and took out the humidifier and placed it in front of Li Shiyou’s desk, covering about one-fifth of the screen.
He adjusted the position of the humidifier making sure the Wind and Rain logo was facing the camera. He added water into the humidifier and pluck it into the socket. However, he did not switch it on.
The reporter and cameraman did not know what was happening. Where were these people doing? This was an office and not a warehouse. What were they trying to do by covering a wall with these products?
The reporter could no longer stand it and asked: “Director Li, what’s going on? It will not look good on television if these boxes are stacked in the background. We will film your factory later. You don’t need to do this.”
Before Li Shiyou could say anything, Feng Yu said: “Mr. Reporter, I think you are mistaken. We did not purposely do this. It is because our warehouses are full and Director Li, leading by example, shows us how to make full use of the available spaces by letting us store these goods in his office. We had no other choices.”
“What’s this? Wind and Rain humidifier? This was really produced by the Motor Factory, but this small thing should not be taking up too much space. The Motor Factory’s warehouse should be able to store a few hundred thousand of these. How many did you all produce?” The reporter looked at the boxes carefully and noticed that these were all Wind and Rain humidifier.
In the past, there were rumors that it was the Motor Factory that manufactured the Wind and Rain electric fans and humidifiers. The rumors were true.
Feng Yu continued saying: “Too many. There were other products in the warehouse too. Furthermore, this is really what our Director Li’s office looks like. We are not lying.”
When Feng Yu was saying this, he secretly pushes a red packet into the reporter’s hands and told him softly: “Please do not interrupt Director Li if he did not answer your question smoothly.”
The reporter received the red packet and nodded. He does not care about the background anymore since Director Li, himself, does not mind. It will be Director Li who was appearing on TV anyway. What’s there to be afraid of?
Feng Yu did not forget about the cameraman. He also passed a red packet to the cameraman and said: “Please film using this angle. Our Director looks better from this angle.”
……
“3, 2, 1, Action! Today we are here at Bing City’s Motor Factory. This is a state-owned factory with a long history and had contributed greatly to the country’s four modernization. For instance, the electricity in Bing City is powered by the Motor Factory’s generators. We shall now interview the Director of the Motor Factory, Director Li Shiyou. Director Li, from what we understand, the Motor Factory had experience cashflows issues last year. You even had difficulties paying out the salaries of your workers. May I ask you how did you turn things around and even give your workers a raise this year?”
Li Shiyou looked at the camera and earnestly replied: “Last year, we did encounter some cash flow issues due to bad debts. However, our workers carried forward, without fear of hardship and responded to the nation’s call to innovate and seek development……”
The first question was as what they planned, but Li Shiyou did not follow his script. He started speaking professionally like those politicians. In fact, he could talk non-stop for half an hour if he was uninterrupted. This was something that most senior leaders could do.
“We still have another question……” The reporter continued with the next question.
Li Shiyou started to answer the reporter’s question, but after 2 sentences, he coughed and said: “Sorry, the air is a bit dry. Please wait for a while.”
Then Li Shiyou reached over to the eye-catching humidifier on his desk and switched it on. Immediately, the mist started to come out. Li Shiyou inhaled deeply and showed a comfortable expression.
“Sorry, back to the question you were asking……”
The reporter was dumbfounded. What’s happening? Switching on the humidifier amid the interview with the camera rolling? The comfortable facial expression was also too exaggerated. The humidifier was just switched on and how can the humidity in the room change so fast? Furthermore, the air was not so dry in the room. Half an hour before, there was another humidifier switched on in the room. Could it be someone switched that off?
Feng Yu secretly gave Li Shiyou a thumb up. Director Li’s acting deserves full marks!
All this while, Feng Yu was standing behind the cameraman, and the humidifier in the screen was very clear. Although there was no close-up, the beautiful exterior of the humidifier could attract the attention of the viewers. Also, the mist rising immediately after the humidifier was switched on, showed that this new model of humidifier was much faster and highlighted this feature clearly.
Also, there was a wall of humidifiers in the background. Even it was not very clear, but it was enough to make the viewers curious about it and attracted their attention.
The office interview continued, and after Li Shiyou finish answering the last question, the report suggests touring the factory. Li Shiyou stood up, switched off the humidifier, used both hands to carry the humidifier and placed it on the floor.
The reporter was surprised when she saw Li Shiyou carrying the humidifier. This thing is not hot? She casually asked Li Shiyou, and he answered her that this humidifier was the new model. The mist produced was not hot, and it was safer for homes. Children would not get scalded by it.
Perfect. Although this part was not recorded by the camera, later maybe……