Posts Tagged news
Wanted: Fiji Style
image: www.ebayimg.comI’ve always wanted to see what a wanted sign looks like, the kind that heralds back to the dark, hi-ho silver days of the wild west. Granted you could always start the trusty google and fire up those search engines, but nothing beats having the real thing in front of you for that up close and personal scrutiny.
Modern day wanted notices, heralding to the more simple rule of “people remember mug shots, not posed studio images”, present a more grim picture, where the ‘wanted’ and the ‘why’ both come into play at the top, so that people will know whats the notice for, and why some random ugly poser is gracing their walls.
Fiji’s versions of wanted posters are somewhat of a more simple affair, and in this instance, not even sanctioned by the local authorities. Though it does bring to question whether all ‘wanted’ notices are to be sanctioned by a governing body, say for example, the police or lawyers. Are lawyers even interested in wanted signs? And for that matter, do lawyers send out movie-esquire bounty hunters who score the landscape, looking for those people who’ve missed out on their jury duty/bail payment/court visit?
This sign sits on the door entrance of Comsol Fiji Ltd, and is almost easy to miss if the office door is open (which it usually is), and you’re more interested in seeing whats the latest movies Comsol has to offer (which is probably why you’re there in the first place) then to notice some badly photocopied notice hastily stuck on the front door.
Why does Comsol have a wanted poster on their front door? Why because Comsol has a stake in it after all.
When someone walks away from your store with items worth more than six grand, you’d be pissed too. I’m pretty curious as to the circumstances of how said con man walked away with those items (and I’m still trying to figure out whether the six grand was in dvd movie costs…that’s alot of dvds…), though I doubt Comsol would want to reveal just how they were made a tomfoolery by the mysterious “above person”.
Needless to say, the photo is of poor quality,thanks in part to my somewhat lacking mobile phone camera. However, the photo/printout was lackluster in itself, and did not help with the process of photography on my part. It’s a pity that a wanted poster such as this fails in its duty to inform not because of its basic design, but rather on the main draw card that may bring said con man to ‘justice’, the actual photo.
People looking to claim the $200 award will be sorely disappointed when their only source of description of “above person” will be restricted to ‘Indian man with mustache’. And trust me, there’s quite a few of them around. Indian men with mustaches, not con men…although there’s plenty of con men to go around as well.
Good luck with that.
The Death of a local Franchise
Posted by Wilson in advertising, crime, history, news on May 13, 2008
At times, living in Fiji reminds me that we’re still way behind in getting first world goodies, such as fast Internet, Superhighways, IMAX Cinemas, and the most recognizable of them all…big name merchandise. Generally, the sign of progress for most third world countries is seeing exactly how many franchise names they have. The bigger and more well known, the more chances of seeing clues of civilization.
Fiji’s no exception. While I can’t exactly speak for the 70s and 80s period (and library research doesn’t sit well with me…something about those book cases…), I can recall a major franchise to hit Fiji back in the early 90s. They say the quickest way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. The same could be said about impressing the locals with the ways of the infamous fastfood label industry.
Mcdonald’s opening in Nadi didn’t go too well with me, and grumblings from fellow suva mates as to why that ‘town in the west’ got the major upgrade, leaving Suva in dark were shared across the city. But hey, Fiji in general was now a certified First World Poser! Tourists can now come to Fiji, despair at the lack of support for credit cards, cable TV and bums who clean your car windows for money, but then feel almost at home again with the familiar rounded M gleaming in the distance.
You have to love the power of Franchise.
Following the opening of Mcdonalds, other franchises, some albit unknown, made their presence known. It was to be the golden age of business franchise branch opening here in Fiji, and at first, nothing could go wrong. When KFC played their ads on TV, you could close your eyes and imagine yourself watching television in Sydney, auzzie accents and all. When Eagle Boys Pizza announced their home delivery pizza system, it was just like in the movies even. Life was great.
However, all good things must come to an end, albit in this case, with somewhat of a whimper. When Eagle Boys Pizza opened, not in the heart of the main city of Suva, but rather on the outskirts, in a suburb called Valelevu, I was slightly taken back. Somehow, I just couldn’t see a snazzy jazzy pizza parlour such as Eagle Boys Pizza survive in an area that isn’t known for its spending power compared to say, a more upper class region such as Tamavua. My gut told me this was all wrong. The boss for the branch didn’t seem to think so.
“Valelevu has quite a large population,” he said in a tv interview, “There should be no problem operating in an area such as this.”
Last month, without so much as a notice, they closed down. Edit: Apparently the pizza boys closed down a lot earlier then previously mentioned (thanx for the tip Picky Eater (: ), almost 18 months ago infact. Ouch.
And the bigger irony is that the video store beside them, another (auzzie?) franchise was also in dire straits.
Apparently, being Ezy wasn’t enough to keep the franchise afloat. While they too opened with a flurry of activity and branches fiji-wide, slowly but surely, they came under fire from the one form of competition that holds a special place in alot of locals. Piracy. That, and trying to go up against Rowell, who weren’t really pirates per say, but their VCD prices were of pirate quality, with some movies going as low as a dollar. Compare that to Video Ezy’s $4.99 a night rental fee, and you can see why they struggled to hold up against the ever resourceful Rowell.
In Video Ezy’s defense, they were doing Fiji a favour by bringing in movies that most video stores, with the exception of IMDVD, would shy away from, the ones with little or no action, indie flicks etc. Sadly enough, like indie flicks, artistry doesn’t quite mean popular.
Last month Video Ezy had to close down their Lautoka Branch, with their Tamavua and Ellery Street branches already shutdown. While the company director Uday Singh has already written to the relevant authorities on the piracy issue, somehow, something tells me that not much is going to be done about it unless:
(a) Comsol is silly enough to try its hands at distributing rugby matches that were shown on Fiji TV, and attrach police/Fiji TV/media’s attention resulting in a great hullabaloo that’ll resonate for say…oh I don’t know…less then a week before everything reverts back to normal.
(b) Certain pirate movie stalls will be closed down swiftly at a Show/Festival/Gathering by FAVIA, resulting in a great hullabaloo that’ll resonate for say…oh I don’t know…a few days before everything reverts back to normal.
Does this mean that overseas franchises are doomed here in peaceful, coup-happy Fiji? Nonsense! Mcdonalds is alive and well, with its steady supply of teenage obese diet of burgers and coke, and a few blocks away, KFC clucks away merrily, although they seem to be less popular then the magic M. We’ll have to see how this goes.
Is there any other overseas franchise that has opened here in Fiji, and is thriving/failing?
PS: Maya Dabha not taken into account, since they’ve only just opened…and Rizwan doesn’t take too lightly to their lack of door opening attendees, dry roti, oily rice and orange/red chicken ;P
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