KL restaurant gets creative during Huawei ban, dishes out discount for users

TnR by Sean & Angie, a char siew restaurant in Petaling Jaya, is showing support for Huawei amidst the US trade ban by offering Huawei users 20% off the total bill when they dine in. Consumers were alerted of the deal via the restaurant’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.In a statement to A+M, the restaurant’s spokesperson said that the main objective behind the promotion was to let consumers decide for themselves whether the ban on Huawei “is justified or not by the big bullies, especially the US and its allies”. “As for us, we did not have any business objectives in mind when we decided to offer Huawei users a discount,” the spokesperson said, adding that it was a “spontaneous idea”.The restaurant’s spokesperson also said that it Facebook and Instagram are its main modes of communication with consumers and a key aspect in its marketing. A quick check by A+M found that TnR by Sean & Angie sold out on the first day of its Huawei promotion.Last week, Panasonic joined the list of brands including ARM, Qualcomm and Intel to stop business transactions with Huawei, after the US banned Huawei and its 70 affiliates from acquiring US components and technology without government approval. Meanwhile, Google is temporarily providing Huawei with software and security updates for the next 90 days after initially announcing it would cut ties.According to multiple media reports, Huawei will roll out its proprietary operating system named “Hong Meng” for smartphones and laptops this fall, with the international version being ready for launch by the first or second quarter of next year. Hong Meng will gradually replace Android on Huawei’s devices.The news caused plenty of chatter worldwide, especially in Asia, as the brand is popular among Singaporean and Malaysian consumers in particular, according to statistics from YouGov. Meanwhile, the news also breaks at a time where Huawei has concluded a regional media pitch process but has yet to announce the results. The pitch is being led out of Malaysia and covers markets including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.