After the recent arrest of Huawei's finance chief, Meng Wanzhou, several Chinese companies have shown support for this smartphone giant.
For instance, according to a notice by Shennong Mountain Scenic Park in central China's Henan Province, starting this week until December 29, visitors can get free entry if they have a Huawei phone.
However, their behavior was then questioned by a Chinese netizen, asking if it was a marketing strategy or exhibiting discriminatory behavior against other groups of customers.
Has nationalism been taken too far in the recent ongoing tensions between China and the U.S.?
The notice by the park has triggered heated discussion. Has nationalism been taken too far? /Screenshot by Weibo
After showing their Huawei or Honor phones at the door and following the park's official WeChat account, visitors can waive the entrance fee of 65 yuan (around 9 U.S. dollars).
"Looking forward to seeing your brilliant scenic photos on our mountain taken by Huawei smartphone! May all Huawei users' wishes come true," the park then said in its notice.
File photo of Shennong Mountain Scenic Park. /Photo via VCG
Soon after the promotion was posted on the park's official Weibo account, a Twitter-like social media platform in China, netizens took to debating.
"Is it really a fair pricing rule that would harm other customers' benefits? How about people use other domestic brand smartphones," people asked on social media.
"Really do not like such kind of promotion tactics. I will never go to that park," commented @Guojiandong.
"If it is discrimination, do you think promotions like giving discount to ladies but charging full price for male customers are also a kind of discrimination?" said @Bozhibozhi.
In response, the park said that they just want to benefit the public and show their support for Huawei at the expense of their own profits.
"We offer discount to a group of our customers. Why should we call it off?" a park employee said.
The park's promotion is "not prohibited," according to Chinese law.
However, it really isn't a clever tactic. It is more like a piece of advertising by attaching itself to some trending topics and publicity stunts, especially to the sentiments of nationalism, The Paper said in one of its opinion pieces.