Muddy Marketing versus Dirty Tricks

Guo Chenglin, a strategy director at Beijing ZanBo Marketing Management Consulting Corp., faces a heavy fine and less than two years in jail for allegedly slandering the popular cooking oil brand Arawana on the Internet.

Guo's recent trial in a Shenzhen district court underscores the search for fairness boundaries in the nation's marketing sector, and the resolve of Arawana's producer, a major agribusiness, to protect its reputation with help from prosecutors and police.