I am actually amazed to realise that the “Friday Late Night Shopping At Orchard Road” had been launched as early as July 2006. That is almost 1 year ago or 10-12 Fridays already – 1 Friday at the end of every month. Yet I have not been for any of these 10-12 Fridays yet.
The current campaign for the “Friday Late Night Shopping At Orchard Road” has stepped up a notch with more intensive outdoor advertising on the street. No media buying for the Uniquely Singapore, instead they rely on their “immunity” from the authorities (waiver to use public goods for promotion of goverment related messages” to use the pedestrian walkways and wrap-around stands on the streetscape trees for their outdoor advertising messages.
Date spotted: 23 May 07 (Wed)
Location: Everywhere, Orchard Road, Singapore
Personal gripe: Shopping is a usually spontaneous affair and in Singapore it is difficult as the seated restaurants and mid-high end shopping boutiques and malls close at about the same time between 9.30-10pm everyday and even on weekends. Consumers are forced to choose between good dinner or good shopping, no middle ground – unlike true shopping havens in Hong Kong and Shanghai where decent restaurants, shops, services such as salons are opened till 11pm-1am till the public transport shuts down. No surcharge on mid-night cab fares too! No need to wait for a single Friday out of the entire month for some decent shopping AND food on the same night…!