Skip to main content
Emily Roche
  • About
  • Services
  • A Dash of Paprika
  • Work
  • Contact
  • About
  • Services
  • A Dash of Paprika
  • Work
  • Contact

The Chairman Mao Watch, My All-Time Favorite SWAG

July 23, 2018 | A Dash of Business Paprika

I’ve spent many a year in Corporate America, and I’ve gotten a lot of free stuff. I’ve thrown almost all of it away but one item remains: the Chairman Mao watch I got when I worked at Monster. Here’s how it landed on my wrist. 

Chairman Mao watch

My Chairman Mao watch, still ticking

I worked at Monster in 2005. It was past its internet-darling heyday but very much a leader in the online recruitment space. I worked in the old mill headquarters in Maynard, MA with a ton of creative people, and we generally had a blast. At the time Monster was owned by a giant agency based in NYC that made its fortune in yellow pages advertising. The corporate brass didn’t fully understand this internet thing, which often led to odd culture clashes between Maynard and New York. 

But New York had cash—something Monster needed to compete in the post dotcom business arena. Even though it didn’t look like much a site called Craigslist was nipping at Monster’s heels, and CareerBuilder.com was gaining momentum. And it’s hard to imagine now but back then newspaper classifieds were still something to worry about. In response to these market changes Monster did what lots of places do to stay on top: it went on a shopping spree. 

These acquisitions really didn’t affect us much in Maynard. When one of them happened we’d read the press release the PR team emailed to the whole company, realize it had nothing to do with our deadlines, delete it, and go back to work. This routine stayed in effect until Monster announced its monster multi-million international deal to buy ChinaHR. 

I can’t remember how much it was for (a quick Google search as I wrote this turned up $240 million), but it was a big deal. It would expand Monster’s reach into Asia, a giant market full of people who were also using the internet to find jobs. Oh, the synergies: Global reach! Access to databases full of candidates looking for new opportunities! International job postings! Surely a rebirth of internet riches. What could go wrong? 

The CEO went to China to close the deal. The only reason I know this is because everyone, including me, got a present after he got back form his trip. 

Oh yes. 

It was the Chairman Mao watch. 

An employee gift wasn’t the original intent. From what I heard the CEO wanted to celebrate the deal by giving Monster’s partners and customers some authentic Chinese SWAG. Legend has it he was walking down a street in Beijing when he saw a sidewalk vendor hawking watches. But these weren’t ordinary watches. These timepieces had Chairman Mao’s stately profile emblazoned on the watch’s face with one of his arms raised in a friendly salute. And they weren’t battery-operated. You had to wind the watch to make it work. 

That’s when the magic happened. 

A few seconds after winding the watch Mao’s arm would kick into action, waving up and down in a herky-jerky salute until it stopped. That’s when you knew your time was up and it was time to wind it again. The CEO bought hundreds, if not a few thousand, watches and had them shipped back to Maynard. The watches sat in pallets outside the mailroom waiting to be mailed to the chosen.

As the direct mail wheels went into motion the buzz started in the mill. Some people in upper management, I’ll never know who, started to voice concern that this Chairman Mao watch may not be the best thing to send to Monster’s partners and customers. (I would have killed to have heard those discussions: “Oh, absolutely Chairman Mao is well-known, but do you know why?”). Long story short, the plan was scrapped. 

But what to do with all those Chairman Mao watches?

Give them to the People!

I still remember seeing my friend wheeling the pallets around Monster’s long corridors, dropping a precious watch package on every employee’s desk as he went, hysterical laughter erupting after each delivery. What made it even better was that there were actually two versions of the Chairman Mao watch. The swanky version was of course the wind-up watch that powered Mao’s cheery salute, the other was a just a regular battery-powered watch that had a sticker of Chairman Mao’s entire profile and no moving arm. I ended up getting both versions but only because my manager, the recipient of a swanky watch, gave me hers after she saw I got the static one (“There’s an even cheaper version?” She exclaimed as she handed me hers.) 

Those watches did more for morale than the giant sheet cake Monster put out in the cafeteria to celebrate employees’ birthdays each month. I have my Chairman Mao watch to this day. It still works. Winding it remains a hilarious, timeless reminder of that strange slice of time in the early aughts, right after one market bust and just before another. 

Got a favorite SWAG story? Leave it in the comments or drop me a line, I’d love to hear it. 

Hi! I’m Emily, and welcome to A Dash of Paprika. It’s where you’ll find my freewheeling take on the business world and read about my adventures in New York City and beyond. No matter which path you take, the posts will bring a little zip into your day. Andiamo, ragazzi!

Get Started

Emily is an amazing analytical human who can turn verbal diarrhea into pithy copy that cuts through the noise and makes an impact.

Calum Kilgour   |   Slingshot Edge

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Emily in several message development workshops. The workshops are intense and a lot of work, but made fun and exciting by Emily and her team. They are masters of pulling out the significant details and helping craft a message that communicates the true value of your products and services. Emily in particular is very astute in assigning value to ideas making it possible for the true message to rise to the top.

Michael Rocco   |   Power School

Emily is among the best writers I had the privilege of working with, during my nearly-20 years in marketing. Not only is Emily a great pro and a wonderful writer, who knows how to capture the essence of a story and pass it to the reader in a clear and precise way, but she is also a fun person to work with.

Ilan Vagenshtein   |   Marketing, Sales Enablement & Business Development

Emily worked with my team at iCrossing as a freelance Content Strategist for about 7 months and became an invaluable member of our team. Once she’s immersed herself into a project she becomes a go-to resource, retaining even the most minute details. I felt extremely comfortable when Emily took responsibility for a piece of the project because I knew it would be done well, on time, and she would be able to speak to any questions that our clients may have had.

Charlie Chapin   |   Associate Director of Operations, Essence

Emily is one of the most astute, analytical, and strategic forward-thinking executives I have worked with in a marketing capacity — all helped with a keen creative mind and an exceptional sense of humor. Her ability to synthesize complex business needs and devise a creative win-win solution for her clients truly sets her apart from her competitors. I would not hesitate to use her services when the need arises.

Jeffrey Hirschberg   |   Writer-Director/Film Professor

Get in Touch

emily@emilyroche.com
(617) 697-4392
contact
book a consultation

A Dash of   Business Paprika

  • Content Strategy at the MTA
  • I Hate FAQs
  • The Chairman Mao Watch, My All-Time Favorite SWAG
  • Why is a Taxonomy Important?
  • My 2018 Vision Board

A Dash of   Fun Paprika

  • The 1918 Spanish Flu Gets Its Due
  • Lucha Libre Family Night in Guadalajara
  • The Divine Lorraine Hotel At Last
  • Taking the LIRR to Long Beach on the Cheap
  • My Free Nap in New York City
Copyright Staunch Lady Content LLC 2023 | Website by Loki Loki