证监会3个月约定到期慕思未回那个洋老头是谁 华尔街日报考证：慕思床垫代言人已经往生
华尔街日报还是一份专业的报纸，因为在全球的媒体中，只有他们真正地去查了慕思的那个老人究竟是谁！而且基本上也是坐实了。他已经往生了！
去年11月28日，凌通社通过学习证监会的问询函，独家披露了慕思IPO过程中，证监会要求说明那个出现在中国乃至全世界的街巷的羊老头，那只洋猴子是谁的问题。根据当时证监会的问询函，如果没特别事情，阅读3个月，也就是2022年1月29日是慕思和保荐人回复的最后时间，慕思的事情就被视作撤回了。
此后，全网追问慕思以及保荐人这老头是谁，让全网知道了慕思欺骗中国老百姓十多年的事实。还有慕思的经销商举报慕思常年偷税漏税。现在，春节最后一天，慕思和保荐人并未回复证监会的片言只语，对于铺天盖地的疑问也充耳不闻。其他滴滴质量监管机构也照样不管。大概这就是现状。凌通社肯定也管不了这么多，所以，存在的就是合理的吧。
不过，凌通社觉得，很多人也大可不必这么快就为慕思唱歌，假如这样的欺骗公众的公司也可以来IPO，那么中国的资本市场岂不是要成垃圾桶了。相信证监会不会为这些垃圾公司扛着，而历史一定会写入这一笔。
华尔街日报：这个遍布中国的西方面孔竟是无名之辈
十多年来，一个脸庞瘦削、蓄着花白胡子的西方面孔随着中国床垫品牌慕思的广告出现在中国乃至全世界的街巷，广告中他无名无姓，引发了好奇和猜测，并在去年引来了中国证监会的质问。
澳大利亚作家兼制片人司马优(Sam Voutas)清晰地记得十年前他第一次在中国看到那块广告牌：一个长相酷似史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)的人摆出一副疑惑的表情，兜售一张白得发亮的床垫。床垫品牌叫慕思(De Rucci)，其宣传语写着：“睡眠系统 健康睡眠”。
司马优记得自己当时挺纳闷，“这个床垫大佬是谁？”
29岁的Toni Koraza是一家营销机构的创始人，2019年和2020年他在中国生活期间，这个脸庞瘦削、胡子花白的“慕思男”似乎无处不在。“我的好多照片里，背景中都有他。”他说。Toni Koraza把这张无处不在的西方面孔以及它的高辨识度说成是“互联网时代的天才创意”，在一份出版物中，他甚至将其称为“全中国最著名的面孔。”
在美国、澳大利亚和中国的机场，全球无数旅客在印有“慕思男”头像的广告牌下来来往往，但没有人知晓他的真实身份。关于他身份谜团的讨论出现在Reddit、博客或是YouTube视频中。
第一条线索出现在慕思健康睡眠股份有限公司(De Rucci Healthy Sleep Co.)去年提交的长达777页的招股说明书中的第227页。当时，该公司向中国证监会提交了这份文件，寻求在深圳证券交易所进行首次公开募股(IPO)，筹集约19亿元人民币（约合3亿美元）的资金。
根据招股书中提到的一句话，2009年8月15日，慕思与蒂莫西·詹姆斯·金曼(Timothy James Kingman)签署协议，可以在广告宣传中永久使用他的形象，但协议金额未予披露。
然而，这条信息非但没有满足人们的好奇心，对于金曼以及那家让他的面孔从“无人知晓”到“无人不知”的公司，人们反倒产生了更多疑问。
慕思曾宣称公司创立于1868年，创始人是一位名叫莱昂纳多·德鲁奇(Leonardo de Rucci)的法国人。后来，有人对这段自诩的历史提出怀疑，于是慕思将这位假想中的“德鲁奇”从公司网站上删除，并将公司宣传语改为“来自1868的眷恋”。但随后，这句广告语也被弃用。
实际上，慕思2004年创立于中国城市东莞，创始人为王炳坤和林集永。2020年，慕思主要产品销售收入达到约44亿元人民币（约合6.9亿美元），当时它在中国已拥有4,200家店铺，其奢华的展厅更是遍及巴黎、洛杉矶、墨尔本等地。
针对记者的置评请求，该公司表示可参考之前的招股书，并指出它目前正处于IPO前的静默期。
2019年，慕思曾聘请篮球巨星科比·布莱恩特(Kobe Bryant)出席该公司赞助的一场国内赛事。科比在宣传片中说，“记住，今晚睡个好觉，我们明天北京见。”
尽管面临同类产品的竞争，但慕思广告中金曼那双摄人心魄的眼睛还是“迷住了”不少人，有的广告画面中，金曼还拿着一支烟斗。家住意大利比萨(Pisa)的Amber Concas说，她有一个姐妹住在澳大利亚，2020年时她曾在家庭聊天群里发过金曼的照片。
“他太瘦了，就像是舒服二字的反义词。”Amber Concas说。她对这个人充满了好奇，甚至制作了一段八分钟的视频
来研究这个她称之为“史上最有名的神秘人物。”
《华尔街日报》(The Wall Street Journal)查看公共记录后发现，美国没有叫蒂莫西·詹姆斯·金曼的人，居住在中国的人当中也没有人登记过这个名字。不过，一个公共记录数据库中倒是出现了一个名叫蒂莫西·J·金曼(Timothy J. Kingman)的美国人，此人生于1943年，去世于2012年6月1日。可除了一个社会保险号以及俄勒冈州纽特苏(Neotsu)的一个邮政信箱外，关于此人，几乎没有其他可查信息。
公共记录将他与一个名叫约翰·蒂莫西·德斯汀(John Timothy Dirstine)的人联系起来，后者和他死于同一天，社保号码和邮政信箱也和他一样。
2012年6月10日的《西雅图时报》(Seattle Times)上登载了德斯汀的一则简短讣告。
讣告里说，他曾在斯坦福大学(Stanford University)求学，参加过越南战争，之后在国外生活了20年，期间主要是待在中国。根据报告里的信息，德斯汀（人称蒂姆）死于2012年5月31日脑瘤手术后的并发症，他的前妻依然在世，但两人没有子女。他还有一个姊妹和两个外甥也都在世。
2000年代中期，在一些科技论坛上，曾有一位署名“蒂莫西·金曼”(Timothy Kingman)的用户自称是生活在中国的英语老师，正在寻找如何帮助学生提高听力的方法。
德斯汀的姊妹、住在华盛顿州哈德洛克-艾恩代尔港(Port Hadlock-Irondale)的乔安·汉森(Joann Hansen)说，她的兄弟晚年时曾在中国生活，但一想到他竟会出现在世界各地的广告中，她也觉得很困惑。除此之外，关于德斯汀，她几乎没有提供别的信息。
德斯汀1962年毕业于西雅图预科中学(Seattle Preparatory School)高中部，在该校校友杂志上的一张照片中可以看到年轻时身穿礼服的德斯汀，照片中的他与慕思广告中的男子有着明显的相似之处。西雅图预科中学拒绝授权重新发布这张照片。
澳大利亚作家司马优怀疑，德斯汀是拿了慕思的钱才替它拍照的，慕思可能是想找一个西方模特来标榜自己的海外血统。这种广告策略又称“面子策略”，一度在中国俯拾皆是。而今，它已沦为人们的批评对象。
国有媒体《中国日报》(China Daily)曾在上月的一篇社论中质问“慕思是否在用一张白人的脸来冒充欧洲公司”，它对强调“欧洲血统”的慕思广告进行了猛烈抨击。
社论说，“这种盲目崇拜在中国没有必要，因为它已经是全球第二大经济体。”
如今在慕思床垫的广告中，你更有可能看到的是备受中国人喜爱的中国女排队。去年，慕思发布了一段音乐短片，画面中，一群身穿蓝色绸缎睡袍的中国中年母亲以合唱的形式表达了良好睡眠的重要性。她们唱道，“做梦都想要减肥，熬夜肥胖风险高一倍。”
“德鲁奇”的脸正渐渐淡出人们的视线，现在主要是作为慕思的头像出现在社交平台上。而对于区区几张照片如何铺就了一段离奇的成名之路，就连慕思的粉丝们也依然一脸错愕。
“你不需要有什么地方与众不同。”司马优说，“真正让你与众不同的，是围绕你打造的那个故事。”
HONG KONG—Sam Voutas, an Australian writer and filmmaker, remembers clearly the first time he saw the billboard in Chinaa decade ago: A Steve Jobs look-alike with a quizzical expression touting a luminous white mattress. The brand was De Rucci, and the slogan read: “Sleep system. Healthy sleep.”
“Who is this mattress maestro?” Mr. Voutas recalled thinking.
Toni Koraza, a 29-year-old marketing agency
founder, saw the slim, gray-bearded De Rucci man in ads everywhere when he lived in China in 2019 and 2020. “He’s in the background of so many of my pictures,” he said. Mr. Koraza called the Westerner’s omnipresence and recognizability “genius in the internet age,” and in one publication he declared it was “The Most Famous Face in China.”
A generation of expatriates and world travelers passed the man slapped on billboards at airports in the U.S., Australia and China, not knowing his true identity. The mystery spawned Reddit threads, blog posts and YouTube videos by fans seeking to know who he was.
The first clue surfaced on page 227 of a 777-page prospectus filed last year by De Rucci Healthy Sleep Co. The document was submitted to Chinese stock-market regulators by the company, which is seeking to raise around $300 million in an initial public offering on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
One sentence revealed that on Aug. 15, 2009, De Rucci signed an agreement of undisclosed value with Timothy James Kingman to use his image in perpetuity for advertising.
Rather than sate the curious, the disclosure triggered more questions about Mr. Kingman and the company that raised his visage from obscurity to ubiquity.
De Rucci at one time claimed to have been founded in 1868 by a Frenchman named Leonardo de Rucci. Pressed by skeptics about its vaunted history, De Rucci expunged mention of the fanciful Mr. de Rucci from its website and updated its slogan to describe the company as having been “founded on nostalgia for 1868.” It has since dropped that bit as well.
In fact, De Rucci was founded in the Chinese city of Dongguan in 2004 by Wang Bingkun and Lin Jiyong. In 2020, De Rucci rang up $690 million in sales from its 4,200 stores in China as well as its glitzy showrooms in Paris, Los Angeles, Melbourne and elsewhere.
The company referred to its prospectus in response to a request for comment, noting it was currently in the so-called silent period before its IPO.
De Rucci hired basketball superstar Kobe Bryant in 2019 to host a company sponsored tournament in China. “Remember, sleep well tonight and I’ll see you in Beijing,” Mr. Bryant said in one promotional clip.
Despite the competition, Mr. Kingman retained fans fascinated by his arresting glare in company ads, which sometimes showed him holding a pipe. Amber Concas, who is based in Pisa, Italy, said her sister, who lives in Australia, posted pictures of Mr. Kingman in their family chat group in 2020.
“He was so thin. Like the opposite of comfort,” said Ms. Concas. She was so intrigued she made an eight-minute YouTube investigation
into the figure she called “the most famous unknown man ever.”
The Wall Street Journal in its own examination of public records found no person named Timothy James Kingman in the U.S. and no one with that name registered living in China. A public-records database turned up an American named “Timothy J. Kingman,” born in 1943 and who died on June 1, 2012. There was virtually no other information about him, other than a Social Security number and a post office box in Neotsu, Ore.
Public records linked him to a John Timothy Dirstine, who died on the same day and had the same Social Security number and P.O. box. A short obituary for Mr. Dirstine
was published in the Seattle Times on June 10, 2012. It said he had studied at Stanford University and fought in the Vietnam War before spending two decades living abroad, mainly in China. Mr. Dirstine, who went by Tim, died of complications following surgery for a brain tumor on May 31, 2012, leaving behind an ex-wife but no children, according to the obituary. He was survived by a sister and two nephews.
On technology forums, a user who signed his posts in the mid-2000s with the name “Timothy Kingman” described himself as an English teacher living in China, looking for tips to help students with listening comprehension.
Mr. Dirstine’s sister, Joann Hansen, of Port Hadlock-Irondale, Wash., said her brother had lived in China during his later years but was puzzled by the notion that he was featured in ads world-wide. She shared little else about him.
A photo in the alumni magazine of Seattle Preparatory School, where Mr. Dirstine graduated from high school in 1962, showed him as a young tuxedoed man, with the same unmistakable features as China’s mattress man. The school declined permission for the photo to be republished.
Mr. Voutas, the writer, suspects Mr. Dirstine was paid to be photographed by De Rucci, which may have sought a Western model to portray an international pedigree. Such advertising gigs, known as “face jobs,
” were once common in China. Now they are criticized.
The state-run China Daily asked in an editorial last month whether “De Rucci uses a white man’s face to pass itself off as a European company,” lambasting the company for ads that emphasize “European blood.”
“Such blind worship is uncalled for in China now that it has become the world’s second-largest economy,” the editorial said.
China’s much-loved women’s volleyball team is more likely to be seen advertising De Rucci mattresses these days. The company last year released a music video featuring a choir of middle-aged Chinese mothers in blue satin robes, extolling good sleep. “You may dream of losing weight in your dreams,” they sang, “but the risk of getting fat doubles for those who stay up late.”
The face of De Rucci is fading from view, serving mainly now as the avatar on the company’s social media. Fans remain astounded at how a few photos opened such an uncanny path to fame.
“You didn’t have to be extraordinary in any way,” Mr. Voutas said. “It was the story built around you that was extraordinary.”
—Jim Oberman and Zhao Yueling contributed to this article.
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