MTR respects press freedom

April 22, 2011

The MTR Corporation has apologised for the misunderstanding caused by a letter issued to media organisations by its media-planning agency, OMD. The corporation stresses that it always respects press freedom and has never had any intention to intervene with such freedom.
 
The corporation today said it has completed an investigation into the matter in which OMD misinterpreted the corporation's intention in the letter issued to the media.
 
In early April, the corporation asked OMD to optimise its advertisements' effectiveness through better positioning in newspapers. Subsequently OMD issued, in their view, a standard letter to the media organisations' sales departments.
 
The draft letter had been shared with a few members of the MTR marketing department. As they were led to believe that it was a standard practice within the advertising industry, they did not object to the arrangement. The staff concerned admitted a lack of sensitivity in handling this matter.
 
The corporation deeply regrets that the content of the letter has caused public misunderstanding. It has asked OMD to withdraw the letter and make appropriate clarifications. OMD has also admitted that the content of the letter misinterpreted the corporation’s intention and it has already withdrawn the letter.