China’s ‘Kim Kardashian’ Sparks Controversy as Dior’s New Brand Ambassador
With over 80 million Weibo fans, China’s ‘Kim Kardashian’ Yang Ying a.k.a. Angelababy is one of China’s most-followed celebrities on social media. Despite her many Weibo fans, Chinese Dior lovers are not happy about her recent appointment as the brand’s ambassador. This article was originally posted by our friends at Jing Daily.
With over 80 million Weibo fans, “China’s Kim Kardashian” Yang Ying a.k.a. Angelababy is one of China’s most-followed celebrities on social media. Despite her many Weibo fans, Chinese Dior lovers are not happy about her recent appointment as the brand’s ambassador. – This article was originally posted by our friends at Jing Daily. –
Parisian fashion powerhouse Christian Dior is being harshly criticized on social media for its appointment of Chinese actress Yang Ying, aka Angelababy, as its first brand ambassador in China. Yang, who has been called the “Kim Kardashian of China” (and spent $31 million on her wedding—more than Kardashian spent on hers), said in a video that Dior is her “favorite brand.”
Almost immediately upon publication on Dior’s official Weibo and WeChat accounts on April 28, the news exploded on China’s social media. By the time of this publication, the number of comments under the original Weibo post topped 50,000 (and it’s been reposted more than 750,000 times), dwarfing Dior’s average Weibo engagement.
“Shocking!” wrote “William sabixi” on Weibo. “Why did Dior decide to destroy its high-end public image?”
Another commenter, “BETTERemma,” wrote: “Does Dior really believe Angelababy can boost its sales? The brand should really do more market research when making decisions like this one.”
The Controversy Stems from Claims of Plastic Surgery
The discontent by the Chinese online community with Yang’s new role at Dior stems in part from the controversy surrounding reports that she had had plastic surgery.
In 2012, Ruili, a beauty clinic in Beijing, published an article on its website claiming Yang had had plastic surgery. Yang sued the clinic for defamation and the case dragged on in court for several years, resulting in a bizarre public examination of the actress’s face at a plastic surgery hospital in Beijing. The hospital’s chief claimed her looks were authentic, saying, according to the BBC, “Baby’s entire head and facial bones do not have any signs of incisions.”
Critics also contend that Yang, who rose to fame in 2014 on the reality television show Hurry Up, Brother and who started a venture capital fund (AB Capital) for investments in women’s lifestyle start-ups, pales in comparison to the brand’s roster of previous international ambassadors, including A-list Hollywood celebrities Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman.
Dior has worked closely with another Chinese address Liu Yifei in the past, which has aroused the curiosity among Chinese people why Liu was not chosen as the brand’s ambassador.
Some consumers have even pledged to stop purchasing Dior products as a result of Yang’s appointment.
“It’s time for me to say goodbye to the brand that I’ve loved for more than 10 years,” said one commenter.
The Brand’s Response, or Lack Thereof
So far, the brand has been mum over the fierce reactions online and Dior representatives have not responded to a request for comment from this site. Since that initial announcement, there have also been no further posts about Yang on the official account, which has featured instead several commercials with the supermodel Bella Hadid.
The hubbub is similar to one experienced years ago by another French luxury brand, Chanel, when it appointed Hong Kong-born American singer Coco Lee as its regional ambassador. Consumers in Hong Kong at the time thought Lee’s public image was too disgraceful to represent the brand. The furor caused Chanel to finally end its relationship with Lee. Swiss watchmaker Jaeger LeCoultre’s recent collaboration with sensational online blogger Papi Jiang met with similar criticism.
But other collaborations of this kind have fared better with young Chinese audiences. Burberry’s collaboration with Chinese-born Canadian boy band star Kris Wu was popular as was singer Luhan as the face of Cartier.
The announcement of the arrangement with Yang came just days after luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessey bought out minority shareholders at Christian Dior for $13 billion.
Yiling (Sienna) Pan is a Luxury Business and Fashion Reporter at Jing Daily. She revels in the challenge of working in a fast-paced environment and presenting Chinese consumer trends to Western readers. Her coverage of the Chinese luxury industry combines a native perspective with her background in finance. Yiling is an alumnus of Thomson Reuters News Agency in Shanghai and she holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Columbia University.
The introduction of a Douyin novel feature, that would enable content creators to impose a fee for accessing their short video content, has sparked discussions across Chinese social media. Although the feature would benefit creators, many Douyin users are skeptical.
News that Chinese social media app Douyin is rolling out a new feature which allows creators to introduce a paywall for their short video content has triggered online discussions in China this week.
The feature, which made headlines on November 16, is presently in the testing phase. A number of influential content creators are now allowed to ‘paywall’ part of their video content.
Douyin is the hugely popular app by Chinese tech giant Bytedance. TikTok is the international version of the Chinese successful short video app, and although they’re often presented as being the same product, Douyin and Tiktok are actually two separate entities.
In addition to variations in content management and general usage, Douyin differs from TikTok in terms of features. Douyin previously experimented with functionalities such as charging users for accessing mini-dramas on the platform or the ability to tip content creators.
The pay-to-view feature on Douyin would require users to pay a certain fee in Douyin coins (抖币) in order to view paywalled content. One Douyin coin is equivalent to 0.1 yuan ($0,014). The platform itself takes 30% of the income as a service charge.
According to China Securities Times or STCN (证券时报网), Douyin insiders said that any short video content meeting Douyin’s requirements could be set as “pay-per-view.”
Creators, who can set their own paywall prices, should reportedly meet three criteria to qualify for the pay-to-view feature: their account cannot have any violation records for a period of 90 days, they should have at least 100,000 followers, and they have to have completed the real-name authentication process.
On Douyin and Weibo, Chinese netizens express various views on the feature. Many people do not think it would be a good idea to charge money for short videos. One video blogger (@小片片说大片) pointed out the existing challenge of persuading netizens to pay for longer videos, let alone expecting them to pay for shorter ones.
“The moment I’d need to pay money for it, I’ll delete the app,” some commenters write.
This statement appears to capture the prevailing sentiment among most internet users regarding a subscription-based Douyin environment. According to a survey conducted by the media platform Pear Video, more than 93% of respondents expressed they would not be willing to pay for short videos.
An online poll by Pear Video showed that the majority of respondents would not be willing to pay for short videos on Douyin.
“This could be a breaking point for Douyin,” one person predicts: “Other platforms could replace it.” There are more people who think it would be the end of Douyin and that other (free) short video platforms might take its place.
Some commenters, however, had their own reasons for supporting a pay-per-view function on the platform, suggesting it would help them solve their Douyin addiction. One commenter remarked, “Fantastic, this might finally help me break free from watching short videos!” Another individual responded, “Perhaps this could serve as a remedy for my procrastination.”
As discussions about the new feature trended, Douyin’s customer service responded, stating that it would eventually be up to content creators whether or not they want to activate the paid feature for their videos, and that it would be up to users whether or not they would be interested in such content – otherwise they can just swipe away.
Another social media user wrote: “There’s only one kind of video I’m willing to pay for, and it’s not on Douyin.”
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Avideo that has circulated on Chinese social media since October 19 shows how an alleged worker at a Tsingtao Beer factory climbs over a wall at the raw material production site and starts to urinate.
The incident reportedly occurred at the Tsingtao Beer Factory No. 3, a subsidiary of the Tsingtao Brewing Company, located in Qingdao, Shandong.
This is the viral video showing how an alleged worker at the Tsingtao Beer Factory 3 climbs over a wall at the raw material production site and starts to urinate. Many people think it's an undercover operation by a rivaling company: one person peed, another leaked the video? 🍻🤢 pic.twitter.com/eJcYljo2aQ
After the video went viral, the Tsingtao Brewery Company issued a statement that they took the incident very seriously and immediately report it to the authorities, who have started an investigation into the case. Meanwhile, the specific batch in production has been halted and shut off.
The incident has caused concern among consumers, and some commenters on social media wonder if this was the first time something like this has happened. “How do we know this hasn’t happened many times before?”
Others speculate about what might have motivated the man to urinate at the production site. There are those who believe that the man is part of an undercover operation orchestrated by a rivaling company, aimed at discrediting Tsingtao. It’s even suggested that there were two ‘moles’ leaking in this incident: one doing the urinating, and the other doing the video ‘leak.’
Meanwhile, there are voices who are critical of Tsingtao, suggesting that the renowned beer brand has not effectively addressed the ‘pee gate’ scandal. It remains uncertain how this incident will impact the brand, but some netizens are already expressing reservations about ordering a Tsingtao beer as a result.
But there are also those who joke about the “pissing incident,” wondering if Tsingtao Beer might soon launch a special “urine flavored beer.”
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