In early 2007 English First (an English training school) was running this ad in Shanghai:
What kind of message is that sending?
Apparently they later decided that they needed to make sure that the foreign teacher in the ad was more mature (and perhaps had better eyesight), and that the teachers they pimped provided equal bondage opportunities for both sexes. These are the ads they’re running now:
Conclusion: English First is a company with a progressive attitude towards advertising, based on the firm principles of purple backgrounds and bondage.
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Do you have the phone number for their HR department. I’d sure like to be bondedly employed.
Some people who work for EF might say there’s some truth in the advertising. Laoban chained to employee…… ::)
EF’s not from the states, right? xD apparently, they didn’t learn the lesson of those working to abolish slavery. Don’t try, Lantian, I’m calling BOCOG !
Hmmm. Learn English while also “tying the knot”.
One word: Hostage.
They don’t have the slightest hope of competing with Chinesepod. You do realize that the Chinese listener can learn English from the conversation lessons too, and not only English speaking folks going there to learn Chinese.
Are they live-in tutors? What with the 24-hour selling point.
These are in Tianjin also, but only the first one. I guess the marketing campaign has yet to mature (Or there is a younger demogrpahic here)!
What a brilliant way to teach people the word for “rope!” I wonder how they teach the other hundred thousand or so words…?
They also see to have borrowed the logo of an American student travel company, EF Tours: http://www.eftours.com/.
Same Group, Same Logo, Different Offering.
@ Paul: Not just the logo. The also took part of their name. “EF” stands for “Education First,” and here it’s “English First.”
I think they are saying, “If you pay us the money, we’ll provide the rope.” It doesn’t seem to show us Westerners in a good light.
@ hobielover: it’s actually part of the same company. EF Tours and English First are both owned by Education First.
Very funny. English seems to inescapable…
@Sam: Really? OK, then, they’re just reusing their own name. I really don’t like for Chinese people to think Americans all act that way, though.
Funny, I saw these all over Beijing for the past year, and all I could think of was “oh great more fetishizing” (on both sides). Like, “teach her win a Chinese girl”? Or, “pay for lessons, get a [White] businessman”? Gives me the creeps every time I see one of those signs.