Forget The Porn, Lure In Phone Buyers With Free Beer

from the free-as-in dept

Fri, Jul 6th 2007 8:28pm — Carlo Longino

A couple of years ago, some Chinese mobile-phone retailers garnered some attention by giving people free porn for the phones they purchased, using the content to show off the handsets' video capabilities. Now, mobile operators are trying a new giveaway: free beer. In one city, China Unicom began offering new subscribers a free 12-pack of beer; its bigger rival China Mobile responded by offering up to two crates per new user. Chinese operators often use these sorts of giveaways to attract users since their prices are controlled by the government, and in a neighboring province to the town with the beer giveaways, they hand out towels, woks, cooking oil and umbrellas, and in another area, they give away washing powder and "a special mosquito repellent gift set." So the next time your local cell phone store says they'll throw in a free car charger if you buy a phone, you know what you can haggle for.

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31 Comments

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ORACLE-1, 6 Jul 2007 @ 8:55pm

Forget The Porn, Lure In Phone Buyers With Free Be
MAN IF NEXTEL DID THAT THEY WOULD CORNER THE MARKET. I WOULD BY ANOTHER PHONE FOR FREE BEER. BUT ONE THING HOW MUCH IS 2 CRATES OF BEER IS THAT LIKE 2 CASES????
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Unanonymous Asshole, 6 Jul 2007 @ 9:10pm

bloody brilliant
enlightened first post indeed. I suppose that means this strategy has merit though.

Sent from my iPhone
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Jul 2007 @ 9:10pm

Personally, I'd rather have the porn.
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Anonymous Hero, 6 Jul 2007 @ 9:33pm

Why Choose?
Why choose? ...
Free beer watching free porn - now we're talking!
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Jul 2007 @ 9:45pm

I'm Chinese, I've lived in China for a period of time, and I have to say that I am completely not surprised. Expected even.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Jul 2007 @ 10:08pm

Re: Why Choose?
Yeah but if you have a beer in one hand and your phone with porn in the other, how do you wank?
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GoblinJuice, 6 Jul 2007 @ 10:34pm

Free. Beer. China.
grrr.

China... communism... bad.

Free... beer... good.

HEAD HURTS!!!! ;`(
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comicfan, 6 Jul 2007 @ 11:15pm

Re: Re: Why Choose?
LOLLL. Well that's one thought, lol. Of course for the opposite sex, phones do vibrate...I guess men will simply have to wait until the beer is gone.

If they did that here in the U.S., they would be sued by every parent that let their kids get their hands on the fee porn. You know how it works in the U.S., parents don't watch what kids do then sue others for their kids getting into trouble. Ok, a bit harsh but true, in the U.S., it's a don't blame me society, everyone else is responsible for peoples' actions. So I doubt this would go over well.

As with the free beer, someone would blame the phone company for them drinking and driving. No it's not that far out, this crap happens all the time here. This is why America still needs instructions on condoms and shampoo bottles.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Jul 2007 @ 4:14am

I heard that this was to get around minimum-pricing laws, or something, but I'm too lazy to dig up a source for that.
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Tugger, 7 Jul 2007 @ 7:16am

Sometimes......
one has to drink a lot of beer so the porn bimbos look better.
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anonymouse, 7 Jul 2007 @ 10:26am

head hurts...
love it. brilliant cheek.
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Kannaida, 7 Jul 2007 @ 10:40am

RE: comicfan
Absolutely true. Why take responsibility when it's SO much easier to "pass the buck"? Everyone here seems to be all "oh, my kid's a murderer, it must be the games!" and not "oh, my kid's a murderer, we should kill it, bury it in the backyard and start again. And MAYBE be a bit more responsible as parents!"

Kind of odd... everyone here is all "China is teh evil! So much restrictions!". Maybe it should be "China is so free! They can't even blame their corporations/ government/ entertainment/ gadgets!"

Sorry, I get pissed with our (the U.S.'s) T.V as a nanny society. "Back when I was a kid" (hehe) my folks saw me out of line and they damn well PUT me back in line. They sure as HELL didn't blame some outside source for my ignorance. I still remember thinking that making my parents happy made me feel like I had gotten it right. What the hell happened to that? "Here's a crate of beer kid!" and it was either "No thanks!" or "Man, my dad would LOVE this! Maybe he'll get me a phone so HE can get the beer?"
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Mark, 7 Jul 2007 @ 10:49am

Re: RE: comicfan
What?
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Overcast, 7 Jul 2007 @ 11:18am

Hard to argue with Free Beer.... lol
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AVonGauss, 7 Jul 2007 @ 12:28pm

Sounds pratical...
Sounds practical to me, free porn is just going to get you more frustrated - free beer might get you laid if you decide to share with the right person...
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comicfan, 7 Jul 2007 @ 1:11pm

Re: Re: RE: comicfan
what what?
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Bah who needs one, 7 Jul 2007 @ 1:23pm

Is it just my imagination, or has it been a slow week for tech news? Average of six new items a day instead of 10-12, and a lot fewer legal/misuse of technology items particularly.
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comicfan, 7 Jul 2007 @ 1:31pm

Re: RE: comicfan
Same here, when I got out of line, I knew it as well. Although not precise I'm sure, this is the list I feel contributes to this..

1. Both parents have to work due to trying to make ends meet. Pay is low and hours are long, prices are at an all time high. They have no choice but to leave the kids at home w or wo a babysitter.

2.Then there are those who don't have to both work but still do since they feel they have a right to a career. Sad, children are careers, the most important.

3. TV, money and video games take over where human contact leaves off. Since parents don't have much time, or in some cases choose not to, they simply give the kids some money or buy them something to make up for it.

4. Then we have government agencies and schools telling kids if their parents even lay a finger on them,or yell, it's abuse which aids in taking away discipline on top of parents not caring what the kids do. Those that do care can't do anything about it unless they go through 100 different programs instead of spanking their ass.

5. Some parents simply don't care about their children, abuse them, or put themselves before their kids.

So this may be a very compact list but all in all, it is a big part of it. No parental or not correct parental guidance, only material things, and lack of knowledge.

I still raise my kids with respect and responsibility no matter what this country has to say about it. My oldest is 14, already has a job, babysits, chores and school and always willing to help my wife and I. Yet, he is looked at as being an odd ball by the other kids, who a majority of them have coincidentally been in jail more than once. The school said my son isn't outgoing enough,hardly has friends, well, he doesn't want to be in trouble, I think that was called at one time, being smart. He just got a cheerleader's phone number last week so he's not doing too bad, lol.

But sorry for the rant, back to point, it's this kind of situation that has spawned so many laws etc...so those who do think China is so bad, look in the mirror, it's coming. Obviously China is responsible enough to deliver porn and beer to consumers, can the same be said about us? I think not.
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Joe Martinec, 7 Jul 2007 @ 2:22pm

Cell phones and beer
Man, why not both? All I got was a monthly bill!
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Mark Williamson, 7 Jul 2007 @ 3:18pm

Free Beer For Phones Buyers
When I was in Thailand, all of the Tailor shops gave you free mixed drinks while you were looking at material to have a suit tailor made. Must be an Asian thing to entice people to buy with Alcohol.
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Mark Williamson, 7 Jul 2007 @ 3:18pm

Free Beer For Phones Buyers
When I was in Thailand, all of the Tailor shops gave you free mixed drinks while you were looking at material to have a suit tailor made. Must be an Asian thing to entice people to buy with Alcohol.
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My 2 cents, 7 Jul 2007 @ 4:58pm

opinions are like...
Good for China. If this were tried in the U.S. there would be a lawsuit before the beer passed through the first customer and the war would be on, won only the lawyers on both sides. ($$$)
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Paul`, 8 Jul 2007 @ 12:51am

Re: Forget The Porn, Lure In Phone Buyers With Fre
Typing all in caps makes your comment harder to read and makes you look like a total jack ass. http://www.jacobfoshee.com/wages/caps_lock.jpg (i
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My 2 cents, 8 Jul 2007 @ 6:56am

Who's looking?
Posting unsolicited advice where not repremand is warranted, congratulations! Your a blue ribbon JACK ASS!
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Triatomic Tortoise, 8 Jul 2007 @ 12:35pm

Re: Re: Re: Why Choose?
America is a free country;) Hence, you can sue anybody for anything you can dream about. The system that encourages lawsuits however frivolous is the problem IMHO.
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Triatomic Tortoise, 8 Jul 2007 @ 12:39pm

Any idea what beer they give away?
Free beer is good. But what kind of beer do they drink in China? Are they good?
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My 2 cents, 8 Jul 2007 @ 4:03pm

is there a lawer in the house?
If we stopped rewarding bullshit lawsuits (McDonalds hot coffee in lap got millions, for one) and began to accept responsibillity for our own (societies) stupidity / clumsiness, perhaps we could get away from the *accidental lottery winnings* mentality in our over litigious society.
Then again, if we got good and drunk, we'd probably call everyine we know on our cell phones. Thats marketing genius.
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Bah who needs one, 8 Jul 2007 @ 4:25pm

REPOST: First attempt somehow failed to be visible to other people besides me.

Is it just my imagination, or has it been a slow week for tech news? Average of six new items a day last week instead of the normal 10-12, and a lot fewer legal/misuse of technology items particularly.
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Alan, 9 Jul 2007 @ 6:41am

Re: Re: Forget The Porn, Lure In Phone Buyers With
But pointing out that fact has made you feel better about yourself, hasn't it.....
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That Guy, 9 Jul 2007 @ 8:04am

Where's my free beer?
I read techdirt instead of cnet, so shouldn't you guys give me some free beer?
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Old Guy, 16 Jul 2007 @ 4:06pm

Re: Re: Why Choose?
You buy one of those hats that holds 2 beers and has a tube to drink from...
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