Cantopop star Denise Ho Wan-see is crowdfunding her upcoming concert by inviting individuals and small and medium enterprises to pledge sponsorship for the event. She amassed more than 100 sponsorship units, each worth HK$15,000, within a day after she announced the plan.
Denise Ho was embroiled in controversy earlier in June, when cosmetic giant Lancôme cancelled a concert in which Ho was scheduled to appear. The decision was made after Chinese state media outlet Global Times said on Weibo that Ho was a brand ambassador for Lancôme and linked Ho with the Hong Kong and Tibetan independence movements. Mainland netizens called for a boycott of the brand below the Global Times post.
Later, Ho held a concert at the same place on the same date, attracting more than 3,000 people.
In the announcement of her sponsorship plan, she said that there was “no fear of being blacklisted and no fear of not being supported by big companies. Breaking the black sea of monopoly in concerts starts from crowd individual sponsorship!”
Sponsors all contribute at least one unit, which costs HK$15,000, to the event. After announcing on Facebook that she had amassed 100 sponsorship units, Ho said “Hong Kong people really are crazy! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will do my best to give back to everyone in double.”
She released a list of 30 sponsors on Thursday afternoon, which included an engineering firm, a clinic, and restaurants. Almost half the names on the list were individuals.
Ho is scheduled to hold concerts on October 8 and 9 at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
