C.D. meets Leon

This is a story currently circulating in Hong Kong's advertising industry.

At 2 a.m., C.D. (Chen Dong) dragged his weary body out of the office. Countless advertising lights illuminated the city as brightly as daytime. This phenomenon, known as "light pollution," grows worse with each passing day. As the Creative Director (CD) at an advertising agency, he felt deeply apologetic about the city's grim state. Perhaps due to his extreme exhaustion, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck, and everything went pitch black...

When he awoke, CD found himself seated in a chair inside an abandoned building, his hands bound behind the backrest. Flowers sat on the desk, and a man wearing a knit cap and round sunglasses stood before him. CD immediately recalled the protagonist from the movie "Leon." "Honestly, this is the first time a client has asked me to kill a CD," Leon cut in. "Are you saying I made fake ads to win awards?" C.D. asked. "No. Remember that client who asked me to promote their product launch on social media before?" "I remember. That night, 2,000 people showed up at the venue, right? "Success." "The client got angry because some 15-year-old student gathered 120,000 people online in just one night without spending a dime." Leon fiddled with the pistol in his hand. "That was a protest rally against the government's education policy!" C.D. retorted, but with a "Bang!" he ducked his head.

When C.D. opened both eyes, a plastic bullet lay on the floor. "What the hell was that?" Leon holstered the pistol and slipped into his black coat. "Don't thank me. The client slashed the budget at the last minute. When they cut this deep, even I have to compromise on tools. Toy guns are always cheaper than the real thing."

Leon had disappeared somewhere. Chen Dong, his face crumpled with tears, found himself genuinely grateful for the first time in his life that the client had "cut the budget."

Clients can no longer bear the high costs of traditional advertising media. Meanwhile, Western civilization, represented by digital media, still exerts a significant influence on local creative work. Most local clients fail to grasp the role of new media like social networking services. Amidst this, production budgets continue to trend downward.

It remains unclear whether C.D.'s story is factual.

(Supervised by: Dentsu Inc. Aegis Network Business Bureau)