The fast food wars can involve some surprising fronts and foot-soldiers – Offbeat China blogs about a (possible) KFC guerrilla marketing campaign involving “cute delivery boys”:

It all started on Feburary, 1st when a girl named Woshikaogong on Sina Weibo (China’s Twitter) recounted her experience with a handsome KFC deliveryman. (KFC Home Delivery is an official KFC China website for home delivery services.) When filling out online orders on the website, she, maybe out of boredom, typed in “I want a handsome man to deliver the food to me” in the column “other requirements.” To her surprise, the deliveryman was indeed very cute, as described in her Weibo post “with big eyes and has fair skin.” To make the story more dramatic, she also claimed that the KFC branch from which she ordered the delivery service called a few minutes later to check whether she was happy about the service and whether she thought the delivery boy was indeed pretty.

Many speculate that the whole thing is a marketing campaign by KFC. If so, it is a very creative campaign and spot on in terms of consumer psychology. Emotional bounding and personal connection also win. Given the sensation it aroused, there is no double that more local food chains probably will pick up this special service.

Red-luxury.com describes China’s growing “fast-growing fast-fashion trend” and two of its most prominent players, Exception and Zuczug:

After many struggles and criticism from the European fashion world, Chinese designers are making a strong, consistent appearance on the runway and in boutiques nationwide thanks to their boldness and ingenuity. China’s fast-growing fashion trend, best described as 21^st-century Zen, offers a comfortable, local alternative to a population bombarded by glitzy European brands. The bellwether of this trend, hands down, is Exception, a brand that has established 90 stores across the country and can flout an annual turnover of more than 900 million yuan ($150 million). Exception recently opened an 1,800 square-meter flagship store in Canton, where the brand is headquartered.

Over at China Hearsay Stan Abrams explains how, in the wake of a trademark dispute between Taiwan-based Proview Electronics and Apple over the legal rights to the “iPad” name in China (which Apple has initially lost and has appealed), the Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce (AIC) would be justified to raid and shut down all Apple stores and retailers in the city – and more importantly, why they probably won’t:

What can the AIC do? It can raid premises, seize documents, equipment, products and counterfeit marks, and it can halt activity and lock down businesses. Once AIC makes a decision about infringement, it can order fines (these go to the government, not the trademark owner), revoke business licenses, and mandate a public apology.

… OK, so once again, in addition to the contract action in Guangdong, we have an infringement suit in Shanghai, and a pending AIC application in Beijing. According to the Beijing Evening News, which apparently talked to AIC, the authorities are sitting on this for the time being. Why is this happening?

I can only speculate that it’s political. Look, Beijing AIC can certainly claim that since this case involves a pending civil suit, they feel obligated to step back and wait for a resolution from the court in Guangdong. Maybe.

(Bonus link: Macrumors has a post with pics that purportedly preview what the iPad 3 may look like)