Company morale is hard to sustain. Health benefits are great to have, and the promise of some extra cash as an end-of-the-year bonus is always nice, but is that motivation enough for everybody?
Apparently not for Qihoo 360. The Chinese tech firm that makes mobile security apps allegedly included a night with Japanese porn star Julia Kyoka, as a Chinese New Year bonus to a top-performing employee.
Well, at least it did, before the list of bonuses got leaked by someone inside the company, who may have just been eager enough to poop the party for everyone else, and the big prize has been removed from the official list.
The whole thing exploded on Chinese social media since then. The list of bonuses also included a new Porsche and an all-expenses-paid five-day vacation to Bali for two. Those remain on the table after the leak.
Julia Kyoka is one of Japan’s best-known porn stars — and also huge in China. Her J-cup breasts are apparently just as famous across Asia as Julia is.
“I’ve been getting questions about this. No, Qihoo 360 does NOT offer porn stars as an employee bonus. The rumor is baseless.” Francis Bea, a senior international brand marketing manager for Qihoo 360, posted on Facebook. Their official statement also denied it: “It appears someone manufactured a false document of what our bonuses are involving an adult entertainment actress. No such document ever existed. It’s an entirely false Internet rumor, and we can confirm it is patently false.”
It would have been interesting to see a married employee explain to his wife, “Um, no, we didn’t get the Porsche. By the way, on Saturday night I’ve been asked to go on this company field trip. Annoying, I know. Don’t wait up; I’ll see you Sunday. Cool?”
But while we understand that China’s conservative standards may have been the reason they vehemently denied using a porn star as a bonus, and they can claim it was all a baseless rumor, there’s no denying the whole thing gave them an exposure they wouldn’t have reached otherwise.
Because, let’s be honest, would you have given two shits about the existence of Qihoo 360 had you not read the headline of this news report?
A solid PR move, if you ask me.
