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| Masks of Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush are on display at the Hong Kong International Toys & Gifts Show 2001, October 22, 2001. The masks are selling for US.90 each.[Reuters] |
The most-wanted man on the US list, Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, has turned up at the Hong Kong International Toys & Gifts Fair, or at least Halloween masks bearing his image have.
Toy makers are trying to cash in on the notoriety of the man the United States blames for the Sept. 11 attacks on Washington and New York, and say they hope his masks will be a big Halloween hit.
``We foresee that there will be a big market and people will buy these masks for Halloween or parties,'' said John Lui, assistant sales manager at Perfectech International Trading Ltd.
And to show that he is giving equal time to all the key figures in America's war on terrorism, Lui said the company planned to offer masks of President Bush.
Lui, donning the prototype bin Laden mask for reporters, said he did not think it would cause problems for wearers in the United States. ``I don't think so. It's just for fun,'' he said.
Also on display at Perfectech's booth were a toy gas mask and banners showing images of New York fire fighters and bearing slogans like ``God Bless America.''
Another booth was displaying masks of Bush, bin Laden and a horned devil, for sale at .90 each.
A third company, Continental Latex Industrial Ltd., was in talks with clients to produce Bush masks, but a representative said there were no plans to produce a bin Laden version.
The mask makers have not been the only Hong Kong companies to seek profit from the September attacks.
A cap maker said its October orders jumped 30 percent from a year earlier as its China factory produced hundreds of thousands of baseball caps bearing patriotic slogans such as ``United We Stand,'' ``God Bless America'' and ``We won't forget 9-11.''
(Agencies)
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美國(guó)頭號(hào)通緝犯本·拉在香港"亮相"了！隨著萬圣節(jié)的臨近，香港國(guó)際玩具禮品市場(chǎng)上正在熱銷沙特富翁本·拉登頭像的面具。
玩具制造商們想盡辦法利用本·拉登，這位被美國(guó)認(rèn)定為9·11恐怖事件制造者的恐怖主義頭目的名氣大賺一筆，他們希望這種本·拉登面具能夠成為今年萬圣節(jié)玩具市場(chǎng)上的亮點(diǎn)。
Perfectech國(guó)際貿(mào)易有限公司銷售經(jīng)理助理約翰·盧伊說："我們預(yù)計(jì)拉登的面具會(huì)擁有巨大的市場(chǎng)，人們會(huì)樂于購(gòu)買這些面具參加萬圣節(jié)晚會(huì)或者其它化裝晚會(huì)的。"
為了表示對(duì)此次美國(guó)反恐怖主義戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中的所有重要人物一視同仁，盧伊說該公司還計(jì)劃生產(chǎn)美國(guó)總統(tǒng)布什的面具。
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| 墨西哥一玩具店員工向人們展示該店中出售的本·拉登和布什模樣的乳膠面具。[路透社照片] |
盧伊戴上以本·拉登為原形的面具向記者展示，說公司不希望戴這種面具的顧客在美國(guó)會(huì)遇到麻煩。他說："我認(rèn)為不會(huì)的，大家只是戴著玩的。"
Perfectech公司的展臺(tái)上還展出了一種防毒面具，廣告橫幅上印的是紐約消防員，還有"上帝保佑美國(guó)"之類的標(biāo)語(yǔ)。
另一家公司的展臺(tái)則展出了以布什、拉登、頭上有角的惡魔為原形的面具，每個(gè)面具售價(jià)9.9美元。
另一家玩具制造公司大陸乳膠工業(yè)有限公司正在同客戶洽談生產(chǎn)布什面具的業(yè)務(wù)，但是該公司的一名代表稱，他們目前還沒有生產(chǎn)本·拉登的面具的計(jì)劃。
事實(shí)上，9·11恐怖事件發(fā)生后，并非只有香港的面具制造公司在大發(fā)其財(cái)。
一家帽業(yè)公司稱，由于他們中國(guó)大陸的工廠生產(chǎn)的棒球帽上都印有"團(tuán)結(jié)起來，堅(jiān)持到底"，"上帝保佑美國(guó)"和"我們永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)忘記9·11"等愛國(guó)口號(hào)，該公司今年10月的帽子定單比去年同期增加了30%。
（中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站譯）
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Updated: 2001-10-26 01:00
