This week it was announced that China’s State Council Information Office have hired Lowe & Partners advertising agency – Shanghai Branch – to produce a 30 second advert that will boost the nation’s image abroard.
The ad (in production below) will feature 50 famous Chinese citizens from all walks of life. This includes:
- Yáo Míng (姚明) — the tallest basketball player in the NBA, playing for the Houston Rockets and stands at 7ft 6in tall.
- Láng Lǎng (郎朗) — a fabulous pianist of Hong Kong citizenship but was recently named an official worldwide ambassador for the Shanghai Expo.
- Yáng Lìwěi (杨利伟) — the first man to be sent into space as part of a Chinese mission.
- Guō Jīngjīng (郭晶晶) — an athlete who has the world record for winning the most Olympic gold medals in diving.
- and finally Dīng Lěi (丁磊) — CEO of NetEase (a chinese internet company) and one of the wealthiest men in China. A surprising choice as he quite clearly represents the success of capitalism.
China’s leaders will also make a brief appearance. As well as the ad, a 15-minute film to be shown at a number of international events, is also in production.
Why are they making this ad now?
According to a BBC survey, that was carried out in 28 foreign countries including the UK, many foreigners or Lǎowài (as the Chinese love to say) have negative views of China – the majority stem from Beijing’s handling of Tibet. To that end Chinese leaders want to show the world that China is now developing into a “prosperous, democratic and progressive nation”.
The ad will first broadcast on October 1st, 2010 – 国庆节 (guóqìng jié) which in English is the National Day of the People’s Republic of China.
Further developments about the campaign and the ad itself will be posted on this blog as soon as the information becomes available.
Ads of China // 中国广告 