October 21, 2004

TAIPEI (AFP) - Nike was fined one million Taiwan dollars (29,500 USD) after fans got to see basketball superstar Michael Jordan for just 90 seconds during a whirlwind promotional visit to the island, officials said.

The US sportswear giant’s Taiwan branch was found to have violated fair trade law by Jordan’s May trip, after which furious fans complained they had splashed out on Nike products to gain entry to the event called “The Show”.

“Nike (Taiwan) had publicized an hour-long special event with a five-minute public appearance of Jordan. But that 90-second (appearance) was obviously far from proportional principle,” said Chen Chi-yuan, vice chairman of the Fair Trade Commission.

Sales of Jordan line products jumped six-fold between May 7-16 as Nike’s promotional campaign “successfully created the impression among consumers that owning a Jordan product equates owning celebrity quality”, the commission said.

“Nike Taiwan was found violating the fair trade law because its promotion of ‘The Show’ was proved to have affected the market order,” Chen said.

Nike Taiwan declined to comment on the commission’s ruling, saying it had yet to receive the formal notice.

The company apologized after the fans protested and offered refunds to customers as a local consumer group threatened to launch a boycott of its products.

Jordan arrived in Taiwan on May 21 for a visit lasting less than 24 hours as part of an Asian promotional tour. Some 700 fans were admitted to “The Show” at the Taipei World Trade Center.