Rent a white dude
When it comes to corporate image, Chinese firms don’t exactly have the cleanest record to show off. Sure, Wall Street could probably give them a run for their money right now, but let’s face it: white-collar crime is arguably a lot less threatening to the public than, say, tainted food and hygiene products that people ...
When it comes to corporate image, Chinese firms don't exactly have the cleanest record to show off. Sure, Wall Street could probably give them a run for their money right now, but let's face it: white-collar crime is arguably a lot less threatening to the public than, say, tainted food and hygiene products that people depend on to feed children and avoid cavities. Fear not, though: enterprising Chinese businessmen know how to get back on your good side. Just look the other way while they grab some random expat off the street:
“I call these things ‘White Guy in a Tie’ events,” a Canadian friend of a friend named Jake told me during the recruitment pitch he gave me in Beijing, where I live. “Basically, you put on a suit, shake some hands, and make some money. We’ll be in ‘quality control,’ but nobody’s gonna be doing any quality control. You in?”
I was.
When it comes to corporate image, Chinese firms don’t exactly have the cleanest record to show off. Sure, Wall Street could probably give them a run for their money right now, but let’s face it: white-collar crime is arguably a lot less threatening to the public than, say, tainted food and hygiene products that people depend on to feed children and avoid cavities. Fear not, though: enterprising Chinese businessmen know how to get back on your good side. Just look the other way while they grab some random expat off the street:
“I call these things ‘White Guy in a Tie’ events,” a Canadian friend of a friend named Jake told me during the recruitment pitch he gave me in Beijing, where I live. “Basically, you put on a suit, shake some hands, and make some money. We’ll be in ‘quality control,’ but nobody’s gonna be doing any quality control. You in?”
I was.
And so I became a fake businessman in China, an often lucrative gig for underworked expatriates here. One friend, an American who works in film, was paid to represent a Canadian company and give a speech espousing a low-carbon future. Another was flown to Shanghai to act as a seasonal-gifts buyer. Recruiting fake businessmen is one way to create the image—particularly, the image of connection—that Chinese companies crave. My Chinese-language tutor, at first aghast about how much we were getting paid, put it this way: “Having foreigners in nice suits gives the company face.”
Sadly, being Asian-American makes me ineligible for the honor. Maybe I’ll find better luck someplace equally bereft of scruples where I can pose as a fake Chinese CEO. If any of you have suggestions, hit the comments.
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