Chapter 0341: Blind Imitation with Ludicrous Effect

Zhao Fusheng read through the materials quickly. Advertising planning itself didn't have much content; the core part was how to promote the product, along with the specific content of the advertisement. Having immersed himself in this industry for many years, Zhao Fusheng naturally could quickly identify the key points.

But as he read on, his expression turned grim.

After a long moment, Zhao Fusheng frowned deeply, put down the planning proposal, and asked Dong Chenxi, who was sitting there, "Who wrote this proposal?"

Dong Chenxi was startled. "Is there a problem?"

"A problem?" Zhao Fusheng's expression was stern, with a hint of coldness. "It's a huge problem!"

"What's wrong?" Dong Chenxi's body tensed instantly. Although she wasn't a professional in advertising planning, she understood that Zhao Fusheng had more say in this matter than she did. If he said there was a problem with the proposal, then something must indeed be off.

Pointing at the proposal, Zhao Fusheng sneered and said, "Using the banner of semi-public service advertising to promote your own product is one thing, but donating some products to a random elementary school and calling it charity—do you think the audience are fools, or are the people at those foundations fools? If this gets exposed, how will people see us?"

Then, Zhao Fusheng said, "Tell me exactly what's going on. Zheng Yao couldn't have missed the problem here."

Dong Chenxi sighed and explained, "Here's the thing: people from Binzhou Pharmaceutical Factory No. 7 came to our company with this proposal, hoping we could help them contact Miss Zhou Feifei. They offered a high endorsement fee, and Miss Zhou's side had no objections to the proposal, so..."

"So what?" Zhao Fusheng's face darkened, and he said in a low voice.

"General Zheng is still hesitating. The production fee the other party offered is not low..." Dong Chenxi said hesitantly.

Clearly, what she meant by General Zheng hesitating was that Zheng Yao was now wavering.

Zhao Fusheng sneered, picked up the phone without a word, and dialed Zheng Yao's number.

"Calling me in the middle of the night—what, have you finished reading the proposal?" Zheng Yao was not surprised by Zhao Fusheng's call.

Zhao Fusheng said directly, "What do you think of that proposal?"

"If someone's paying, we'll just produce it," Zheng Yao said flatly. "Zhou Feifei has no objection either and is willing to take the endorsement. As for other issues, I don't think they matter. After all, the responsibility isn't ours—the marketing department of Binzhou Pharmaceutical Factory No. 7 came up with the proposal. We're just following procedures."

Frowning deeply, Zhao Fusheng finally understood why Zheng Yao insisted he read that proposal.

In short, this proposal was similar in concept to the one he had made for Aipu Mobile, except that Aipu Mobile was now actually donating money to build schools in Sichuan, while Binzhou Pharmaceutical Factory No. 7's plan was clearly a case of "crying wine and selling vinegar."

With that in mind, Zhao Fusheng sneered, "You dare to take money from people like that? Aren't you afraid they'll make you the scapegoat?"

"Hmm?"

Zheng Yao was startled, then heard Zhao Fusheng say calmly, "Since this plan was made by their own marketing department, why do they need to find an advertising agency? Contacting Zhou Feifei isn't some arduous task—why do they need us as intermediaries?"

"You mean they're doing this so that if something goes wrong, they can shift the blame onto us?" Zheng Yao's expression turned very ugly. Zhao Fusheng's words suddenly made everything clear to her.

She wasn't stupid; it was just that the production fee they offered was quite high, and she didn't have to bear any costs herself, so she was tempted and forgot about the risks.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "I think it's very likely. To be honest, although I don't understand their intention behind deliberately creating this ad plan, I always feel it's a trap."

Logically, this ad plan shouldn't have been handed to Future Advertising. Since the marketing department of Binzhou Pharmaceutical Factory No. 7 could come up with such a complete plan, they could have just hired any ad agency to shoot it. Spending a large sum to seek out Future Advertising—Zhao Fusheng couldn't figure out the connection.

"I'll investigate. Don't worry about it," Zheng Yao said solemnly. "Since it's a trap, we definitely can't take it. Good thing I said I'd think it over, or that bastard would have screwed us!"

Clearly, she was really angry.

Hanging up the phone, Zhao Fusheng shook his head helplessly. That's how business was—someone could stab you in the back or dig a pit for you at any moment. With one misstep, a thriving company could be devoured overnight, leaving nothing behind, and you might even end up ruined.

Zheng Yao would definitely investigate the truth, so he didn't need to worry. Although General Manager Zheng lacked business experience, she was a woman, and women were meticulous. They might not have the boldness to act decisively like men, but their cautious habits had many advantages.

For instance, if Zheng Yao hadn't habitually asked Zhao Fusheng to review it, this ad plan might have been produced, and if something went wrong, Future Advertising would have taken the blame.

In business, there were too many traps.

Not to mention, Zhao Fusheng clearly remembered that during events like Double Eleven, e-commerce companies would first raise the original price by a third, then offer so-called discounts. Some outrageous manufacturers claimed that due to rising costs, they had to increase prices. Things that originally cost thirty to fifty yuan were inflated by so-called authorities to three to five thousand or even thirty to fifty thousand—it wasn't unheard of.

Suffering a loss was one thing, but being tricked into being unable to survive in the industry would be utterly unjust.

Zhao Fusheng didn't want to become a scapegoat without knowing what was happening, so he definitely needed an answer. He believed Zheng Yao felt the same way.

Seeing Zhao Fusheng hang up, Dong Chenxi whispered, "Is there something wrong with this plan?"

She had roughly heard the content of Zhao Fusheng's call with Zheng Yao and naturally understood that there was a problem.

Zhao Fusheng nodded: "It's a big problem. I just don't know what's really going on."

He was also curious. What mindset led the head of the marketing department at Binzhou Pharmaceutical Factory No. 7 to create such a plan? The whole concept was similar to what he had originally done, but the key issue was that they weren't genuinely interested in public welfare; they intended to pass off a fake as real by randomly choosing a school to donate to.

Sitting there, Zhao Fusheng fell into deep thought. He felt something was off about this.