By MEI SHILA

Zhongnanhai Correspondent

BEIJING (China Daily Show) – Executives at Jeep® reacted swiftly today, after one of their vehicles ploughed into railings at Tiananmen Square, killing five and injuring several franchises.

The company re-emphasized on Twitter that their vehicles are for recreational use only, and should not be “abused for political or automotive purposes in China #BeCool.”

“We need to figure out a way to own this story, before the media does,” Senior Jeep® Marketing Manager Todd Mathers privately warned Vice-Senior Jeep® Marketing Executive Sally Winterson in an e-mail sent yesterday at 1.37 (pm).

“Maybe bump this on social media, use as example of Jeep’s manufacturing standards / upstanding record of human rights/ democracy etc?” Mathers queried in the memo – flagged ‘Urgent,’ ‘Private’ and ‘Do Not Share,’– sent by the company’s brand manager after the US-made vehicle crashed near the Forbidden City, injuring 38 tourists at around midday yesterday.

“Can we add some boilerplate about how we support partnerships in China that promote American manufacturing, etc etc??” Jeep® Asia-Pacific Director of Legal Affairs Leo Gates advised in the e-mail thread, responding swiftly to the shocking events. “I really think we need to get on this before Mitsubishi does. Toby?”

Contacted by media, Mathers pointed out that his e-mailed remarks – while potentially controversial – were actually nowhere near as damaging as his initial, spoken reactions, which began with: “No way!!! one of our Jeep®s managed to get past security in T-Square and kill someone? Fuckin’ A… musta been the one of our new Cherokees, LOL.

“OK, we should probably say something.”

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