Endorsing in Taiwan and China

[owen]

Endorsements by pop stars and TV personalities and such in Taiwan and to a lesser extent in China seem to be totally out of hand to me. I don't really claim to understand the idea behind celebrity endorsements in the first place but even if you accept that they might have some legitimacy there must be a limit, no? I think if a celebrity in North America did endorsements for more than a few products their reputation would be fairly shot in that department.

But in Taiwan it seems the only limit to blindly endorsing whatever stuff comes your way is only subject to the celebrities time. I think its not uncommon for a hot star to promote many, completely unrelated, products at one time.

The idea of endorsement is that the celebrity uses the product and really like it. Can S.H.E possibly eat all the garbage they promote and still be living??? Does Jay Chow really need that many cellphones???

Can anyone (preferable Taiwanese) explain to me whats going on? Does product endorsement mean something different in Taiwan?

[wushijiao]

I agree that endorsements seem out of hand. However, in my daily life in Shanghai I don't even really know where I can buy non-fake CDs. Even some official-looking stores, seem to sell pirated DVDs and CDs. So, if you are a Chinese singer, how do you make money (I would like to know!)?

Also, I think, in the spirit of '60's rock, when you create and write your own music, it is part of your soul, a unique emotion. Thus, when American artists sell-out, their fans usually want an explination. I'm not sure this idea applies to Chinese pop. I don't think fans expect or even care if the song performed is written by the singer, as long as it sounds good. So, when Chinese pop stars endorse some crappy product, I doubt if people that it reflects poorly on their music, and creates conflicts of interest.

[davesgonechina]

I was reading an article recently (can't remember where, maybe the International Herald Tribune) discussing the consequences of pirating for Chinese artists. Wushijiao is right, they just don't make any money on CDs. That's the reason they do so many concerts (this explains Andy Lau's non-stop touring and taking any chance for a Mainland appearance), and would explain why they snap up any endorsement deal.

An interesting contrast is Olympians - in China, they're highly sought after for endorsements, and punished if they do too many (the government frowns on it, I'm not sure how the average person feels - my guess is they're sympathetic to the athlete). I can't remember a student, though, saying "I want to grow up to be Jay Chou", though they will say "I want to be Liu Xiang".

[wushijiao]

As luck would have it, I happened to be on the advertising chapter of one of my classes. I asked my students, "as a fan, would you lok down upon a pop star if he or she endorsed too many products?" Some said, as a fan, they would stay loyal to thier favorite stars, no matter what. Others said they didn't care. Others said they would lose respect for the star if s/he endores sub-par products. One girl said that being a star is hard work, and one should respect their careers. Perhaps not suprisingly, no one really took the view that the celebrities are whoring themselves out (for lack of a better phrase).

Owen, what is the situation like in Taiwan? More materialistic and celeb oriented the the Mainland, I assume.

I think because of things like Ad Busters, radiohead, the Simpsons, leftist colleges...etc. most young, educated Americans rebel against being corporate pawns. Marketers know this. So, often in commercials they give you the post-modern wink and nod, as if to say, "hey, you and I both know this is b-llshit, but watch the commercial anyway." I think it also expalins Gen Y's absurd, abstract, nonsensical humor, which couldn't being further from China's (Mainland, at least) humor.

An interesting contrast is Olympians - in China, they're highly sought after for endorsements,

A bit like pink-lunged Liu Xiang endorsing Baisha Jituan, the front for one of China's biggest tobacco companies. hehe

[owen]

Good work on using your classroom for your (and my) own research.

Yes, the materialism and celebrity deification is supercharged in Taiwan. I mentioned the 3-girl singing group S.H.E. You can not walk more than 50 feet in urban Taiwan without seeing one of their advertisements Little things like this are some reasons i prefer the mainland.

I agree about Chinese humor... It's never off-the-wall enough for my taste.

I never considered piracy forcing them to subsist on endorsements as a factor. If that is the case that's a shame. Or is it? It's not like the people doing these ad's are people i would consider real artists anyways. Maybe the Chinese system of only paying them for their celebrity and not their 'talent' as musicians or actors or whatever is closer to reality.