With CNY coming up, Bally is trying to convince you that instead of red packets, everyone should be giving out Bally gift cards instead. The concept is pretty straightforward, it's more the marketing angle that needs work. The beauty of the gift card is that it allows the recipient more freedom to choose what he/she wants -- to give a gift card instead of a red packet, aka cash, is, to a certain extent, taking away that freedom.

Also, given that the cash denominations usually received in lai see packets aren't usually that high, (I personally haven't even received anything more that HK$1000, and that number was only reached due to the generosity of my own parents) that also inevitably means that you'd have to shell out your own dollar dollar bills to actually buy anything worth more than $1000 at the Bally counter (which, let's face it, is everything in the store). The gift cards are available at HK$500 (ha! useless!) to HK$30,000 at any Bally boutique.

In the meantime, check out German actor-director-producer Til Schweiger in their latest ad campaign. Schwing! Yes, I know that's a gender-inappropriate reference. But he is pretty.