Sunday February 24, 2008
All worked up over annoying TV commercial
Beijing Express
By CELESTE FONG
A SIMPLE television commercial intoning the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, which begins with the Rat (“shu shu shu”) and ends with the Pig (“zhu zhu zhu”), released in conjunction with the recent Chun Jie celebrations has created heated discussions and become talk of the whole nation!
Highly criticised as lacking creativity, the commercial by Hengyuanxiang, a well-known wool company in China, has tested the patience of TV viewers who questioned its aesthetic appeal and lambasted it as “the most stupid ad in history”.
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The Shanghai-based Hengyuanxiang Group declared at this emergency press conference held several days ago that it would stop broadcasting the advertisement.
For a decade, Hengyuanxiang, the leading Chinese woollen wear producer and a Beijing Olympics sponsor, has made its presence felt by its popular advertising spiel “Heng Yuan Xiang, Yang Yang Yang.” Yang is the Chinese word for “sheep”.
It was well received by the people then.
But the latest ad has not garnered much applause despite the company's effort to make its commercials more impressive.
“Our intention was to send New Year greetings to all the Chinese people who were born in the year of 12 different Zodiac animals and to make the people laugh,” said the company's media consultant Ding Xiuwei.
The company wanted to change its serious image with a humorous commercial, he said, adding that this ad and other previous ads were referred to experts at the University of Science and Technology of China to research viewer responses and to make “more beautiful advertisements”.
In 1991, the over-80-year-old Hengyuanxiang started using a similar ad. Running for 15 seconds, it intoned the name of the company three times, followed each time by a cute childlike voice saying “Yang, Yang, Yang (Sheep)”, which conveyed Hengyuanxiang's product identity.
That ad was created by the company's CEO Liu Ruiqi himself.
The new ad may be unforgettable but it has annoyed viewers and many have found it unbearable, according to the local press. So how has a simple yet monotonous ad driven viewers mad during Chun Jie?
The highly lambasted commercial opens with a still picture of the Beijing Olympics logo and the red characters of Hengyuanxiang complete with the black but smaller words “Beijing 2008 Olympics Sponsor” on a white background.
An animated form of a rat jumps onto the screen and a childish voice repeats three times “Shu shu shu”, which is then followed by a male voice intoning the words “Heng Yuan Xian is a Beijing Olympics official partner.”
As there are 12 Zodiac animals, the scene is repeated another 11 times, and this is what has driven viewers mad.
“I thought something had gone wrong with the station,” said a friend who was puzzled by the painfully monotonous repetition.
Her reaction was shared by thousands of Netizens who voiced their condemnation of the ad's lack of creativity and aesthetic appeal.
“Such a stupid ad,” opined one Netizen.
Officials did not disclose the cost of the ad but it is estimated to have cost the company between 10 million and 20 million yuan (RM4.5mil and RM9mil).
An expert in brand strategy told Xinhua news agency that famous companies rely on their brand, not the product, and poorly designed ads would ultimately taint the brand.
A sociologist with Fudan University shared similar views, saying: “It is suicidal to push a brand into the world arena with such ads.”
However, Yuan Fang, an associate professor with the Advertising School of China Communication University, told Xinhua that the “ad immediately pushed the company to the centre of people's attention and into the media spotlight.
Seen from this aspect, it is successful.”
So, whether it's clever or stupid, it depends how you view it! The advertisement can be viewed at: http://you.video.sina.com.cn/b/11203 601-1495338242.html
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