Uber may be fined for saying 'Saigon fell' in advertising

Uber Vietnam's advertisement using the phrase "Saigon falls" is "inappropriate" and violates the Advertising Law, according to the management agency.

Ms. Trinh Thi Thuy, Director of the Department of Grassroots Culture, Ministry of Culture - Sports - Tourism, said that this agency has just issued an official dispatch requesting inspections from the two Departments of Culture - Sports of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to check and handle violations in advertising activities of Uber Vietnam Company, specifically the phrase "Saigon falls" used by Uber after the heavy rain in Ho Chi Minh City on September 26.

Uber also applied a flexible price schedule due to bad weather conditions, traffic congestion, many passengers requesting a car... causing the fare to increase to a record level, 3-5 times, to more than 70,000 VND per km. At the same time, on its Facebook fanpage in Vietnam, Uber advertised "Saigon fell but Uber did not fall".

The Department of Grassroots Culture believes that the phrase “Saigon fell” is a term used by Western media to refer to the historical event of April 30, 1975, when the Republic of Vietnam government collapsed. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is the economic center of Vietnam and is developing strongly. Therefore, using this phrase to advertise Uber’s service makes the recipient think of war and is associated with the decline and collapse of the previous government, which is “inappropriate”. Ms. Thuy also said that Uber’s use of this phrase violates the Advertising Law.

Uber Vietnam said it has stopped using the phrase "Saigon falls" in advertising.

A representative of Uber Vietnam said that they have not yet received the above document from the management agency, so they cannot comment. However, this person also said that Uber has now stopped using the above phrase in advertisements.

Launched in 2009 in the US and officially launched in 2010, the Uber application was built for users of smart mobile devices to be able to search for a suitable means of transportation for themselves, as well as drivers to find customers as quickly as possible, minimizing costs. When using the vehicle through the Uber service, users will not pay directly in cash but pay through personal credit cards.

Uber’s business model has been present in Ho Chi Minh City since mid-2014. Since then, the tax collection for this model has also caused a lot of controversy. It was not until last August, after more than 2 years of operation, that Uber paid taxes in Vietnam for the first time.

According to VNE