HONOR cops flak for parking promotional van outside HK Apple Store

Smartphone brand HONOR has raised eyebrows after parking its promotional van conspicuously outside an Apple Store in Tsim Sha Tsui, featuring the slogan "Able to compare orange to orange, It's our Honor" (能夠orange to orange 比較，it's our Honor).

On Thursday, a video showing an HONOR 600 series promotional van parked outside the Apple Store went viral on Threads. The truck is widely seen as a teaser ahead of the brand’s global launch event in Hong Kong for its new AI-powered mid-range HONOR 600 series, which features an upgraded “AI image-to-video 2.0” tool that transforms photos into short videos using written prompts.

The post has received a heated discussion on Threads, with 650,000 views, 13,000 likes, 550 shares and over 11,000 comments, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE confirmed. While some netizens questioned why HONOR chose to park the van directly beside a rival store — and whether this was an ethical promotional tactic — others viewed it as a deliberate provocation.

One netizen called the move a clear attempt to provoke its competitor, while others claimed the design and colour of HONOR’s new phone closely resemble Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro.

Meanwhile, some users joked that the Apple employee seen in the video, looking towards the van while making a phone call, was possibly “reporting” the incident.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to HONOR and Apple for a statement. 

Don’t miss: Pepsi pokes fun at Coca-Cola in cheeky new campaign

In fact, there are many classic examples overseas of competing brands "provoking" each other in their marketing. Back in 2024, PepsiCo directly targeted its competitor, Coca-Cola, with a cheeky campaign titled "Tastes OK". It urged drinkers to opt for a Pepsi Max by cheekily highlighting a design flaw in the name of its biggest competitor - Coca-Cola's Coke drink.

The campaign pointed out the 'OK' in the spelling of 'Coke', and invites consumers to choose a better tasting partner for their meal by ordering Pepsi Max.

Another example is in May last year, when Burger King France hijacked the launch of a McDonald's restaurant in the town of Firminy in the Loire. Burger King parked a branded truck outside a McDonald's, turning the iconic "M" logo into "Mmmmh Burger King."

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