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Fu has fashion flop
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OLYMPIC diving medallist Fu Mingxia's debut as China's new spokewoman for soft drink Sprite failed to sparkle after the sexy star donned a pair of skin tight pants plastered with English expletives, a report said on Saturday.
Fu, who apparently speaks no English, was reportedly oblivious of her dubious choice of clothing until a Hong Kong reporter informed her of the fashion faux pas after she took to the stage at a press conference held late on Thursday in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
"We were a bit upset but the whole thing shouldn't overshadow the happy event of inviting Fu Mingxia to be our spokeswoman in China," Brenda Lee, Shanghai-based director of external relations for Coca-Cola, which manufactures Sprite, was quoted by the South China Morning Post as saying.
"She is a wholesome athlete and this incident doesn't reflect her personality."
Fu succeeded Taiwanese pop icon Cheng Hui-me, better known as A-Mei, as the new face for Sprite earlier this month.
An series of public relations errors had contributed to the embarassing gaffe.
Fu's plane from Beijing arrived more than three hours late because of foggy conditions. "And a lot of hard work had to be conducted in a rush," Lee said.
The trousers originally prepared for Fu were apparently too tight and a "friend" lent her what has become known as the now infamous "f*** you" pair.
"Nobody was aware of the print on the pants," Lee said.
Chinese portal sina.com reported on Saturday that Fu felt "very sorry and sad" for the whole thing and the diving queen said that she didn't "mean to insult anybody" present at the press conference.
Fu, whose diving heroics at the Sydney Olympics made her a national star, has previously hinted at her interest in pursuing a showbiz career but consistently maintained she would finish her studies at China's elite Qinghua University first. (SD-Agencies)
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