Writing for The Atlantic, Mitch Moxley recounts a gig he recently took up in China. Apparently, Caucasian males living in the country are being recruited to pretend to be high ranking officials of American companies. They go for ribbon-cutting ceremonies, to schmooze with local dignitaries, and to give speeches about how wonderful it is to expand their business to China:
One friend, an American who works in film, was paid to represent a Canadian company and give a speech espousing a low-carbon future. Another was flown to Shanghai to act as a seasonal-gifts buyer. Recruiting fake businessmen is one way to create the image—particularly, the image of connection—that Chinese companies crave. My Chinese-language tutor, at first aghast about how much we were getting paid, put it this way: “Having foreigners in nice suits gives the company face.”
Sounds odd, yeah? It should, because the American companies these recruits are paid to represent don’t actually exist.
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