In a commercial promotional campaign for its 40th anniversary, Carrefour's Quyang outlet in Shanghai has been giving out free breakfasts, 500 a day, to senior residents.

This move invited criticism that the supermarket was doing something hurtful to the feelings and dignity of senior people. First, it was said the free breakfasts suggested senior people were incapable of taking care of themselves, or that they had not adequately financed their retirements.

Moreover, since the supermarket is a multinational company, the move was further accused of hurting the national feelings of the Chinese people, because it reminded people of those bad old days when poor Chinese were queueing for alms from imperialists. It was even said that Westerners were still under the impression that "Chinese people are always hungry".

The supermarket probably did not expect that its promotional activity would attract such huge attention. I think it has, at least to some extent, achieved its original purpose - to let more people know it exists. But what it did not want to generate was an unexpected by-product that looks so strange.

It was not strange, but instead was very normal, during China's dynastic period, however. At that time, whenever some rich people had a birthday (figures usually depicted as corrupt officials in Chinese films), alms would be given to the surrounding poor and hungry people. They would queue for hours and would not stand on ceremony in getting their food.

Although this country is progressing amazingly fast, benefiting greatly from a market economy over the last two decades, commercial culture remains something that is alien to the traditional Chinese mind, which has largely been shaped by a self-sufficient agricultural economy.

Some still do not sufficiently understand the principles at work in a market economy. On the other hand, impressions of those old days refuse to go away. As a result, even an ordinary commercial move aimed at image promotion and profit-making is dragged under a morality microscope.

Under a morality microscope, Carrefour was certainly not doing a good job. Sales gifts are common and people do not make a fuss. Then what was wrong with the sales promotion this time? The problem was that people were asked to come every day and queue for it. The problem particularly lies in "queuing for it". People queue because people want to get something that is scarce. It makes one think of inadequacy. And moreover, "senior people" leads one to think of infirmity. Thirdly, a multinational company prompts one to think of insult.

Besides inadequacy, infirmity and insult, media descriptions of "a lot of old people queueing in the cold wind for small breakfasts worth a few cents" added force to the criticism that what was being seen were the poor and inadequate begging food from a rich imperialist.

But these are not worthy concerns, they are mere symptoms of a moral erethism (mental over-excitement). If there is any worthy concern here, it should be the cliche problem that some of us are still not tolerant enough and not reasonable enough to accept some ordinary facts of daily life. What the supermarket was doing was just a promotional activity aimed at bringing some future benefits to itself.

It seems that some people have excessively powerful imaginations and are unable to refrain from colouring such ordinary activity in lurid hues. Actually, they seem to have been more morally offended and prejudiced than the senior people who have been "coming and queuing in the cold wind".

Let business people do what they want, there are laws and market principles at work to regulate them. It is not a good habit to always associate one thing with another that is totally irrelevant, or only relevant on ill-founded ground.

Of course, business people should also reflect on their actions. After all, commercial activities are not isolated from the social climate and wider realities. And wouldn't it be a better idea to keep those senior people from waiting, and to keep them out of the cold wind?

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