众所周知，姚明是中国联通新时空CDMA形象代言人。然而姚明的形象给联通带来了不少好处，联通却不见得给姚明带来了多少好处。经过多年的开发，CDMA仍然没有给大众带来预期的商务与时尚的感觉，反而是CDMA的信号不好，网络动不动瘫痪动辄就能在新闻上看到。这些负面新闻不仅影响了联通的形象，对代言人姚明的形象恐怕也会有所影响。
在姚明为CDMA拍的广告中，姚明总是用他那招牌式的微笑告诉消费者：我爱新时空。这样就是给消费者传达着一个信号：姚明是使用CDMA，信任CDMA的。然而在2003年5月，有“体育奥斯卡”之称的劳伦斯奖在摩纳哥揭晓，姚明荣获最佳新人。《体坛周报》报道了这一消息，配发姚明手持一部手机看短信的照片，并配图片说明“这应该是正在秦皇岛封训的姚明最希望收到的一条信息。”遗憾的是，姚明手中拿的是诺基亚7650手机。当时的诺基亚7650支持GSM／GPRS网，中国移动和中国联通都有GSM网，所以，尽管通过图片无法判断姚明使用的到底是哪个运营商的网络，但诺基亚7650事实上可以看作是2002年为配合中国移动“彩信”业务推出而在中国市场销售的第一款手机，不但绝对不会支持CDMA网，并且它所能承载的业务还与中国联通CDMA网的业务形成直接竞争关系。
所以，从那张图片上惟一可以肯定的是，身为中国联通新时空代言人的姚明并没有使用CDMA网络，最应该用CDMA手机的人却没有用，这不能不让人对姚明和联通的合作产生失败的感觉。姚明告诉消费者“我爱新时空”，自己却不用新时空，是不是也会被看作对消费者的一次“忽悠”呢？
It is well - known that Yao Ming is the image spokesperson of China Unicom's New Timespace CDMA. However, although Yao Ming's image has brought many benefits to China Unicom, it doesn't seem that China Unicom has brought many benefits to Yao Ming. After years of development, CDMA still hasn't brought the expected business and fashionable feeling to the public. Instead, the signal of CDMA is bad, and the network often breaks down, which can often be seen in the news. These negative news not only affect China Unicom's image, but also may have an impact on the image of the spokesperson Yao Ming.
In the advertisement that Yao Ming shot for CDMA, Yao Ming always uses his signature smile to tell consumers: I love New Timespace. This is sending a signal to consumers: Yao Ming uses CDMA and trusts CDMA. However, in May 2003, the Laureus Award, known as the "Sports Oscar", was announced in Monaco, and Yao Ming won the Best Newcomer. "Titan Sports" reported this news and accompanied a photo of Yao Ming holding a mobile phone reading a text message, with a caption saying "This should be the most expected message that Yao Ming, who is training in Qinhuangdao, hopes to receive." Unfortunately, the mobile phone Yao Ming was holding was a Nokia 7650. At that time, the Nokia 7650 supported the GSM/GPRS network. Both China Mobile and China Unicom had GSM networks. So, although it was impossible to judge which operator's network Yao Ming was using through the picture, the Nokia 7650 in fact could be seen as the first mobile phone sold in the Chinese market to cooperate with China Mobile's "MMS" business in 2002. It not only definitely didn't support the CDMA network, but also the services it could carry formed a direct competition relationship with the services of China Unicom's CDMA network.
So, the only thing that can be certain from that picture is that Yao Ming, who is the spokesperson of China Unicom's New Timespace, didn't use the CDMA network. The person who should use the CDMA mobile phone most didn't use it, which can't help but make people feel that the cooperation between Yao Ming and China Unicom is a failure. Yao Ming tells consumers "I love New Timespace", but he himself doesn't use New Timespace. Will he also be regarded as a "cheat" to consumers?
