[Weekly Update] Hong Kong Celebrity Endorsement (Patreon)

Currently struggling with jet lag. I get sleepy and hungry at seemingly random times. Fun.

CHANNEL UPDATE

Editing on the new video is nearing completion, expect to see it in just a few days! Again, it'll be about Hong Kong Manhua adaptations and their bad fight scenes. I expect it to be slightly controversial, because even though the movies are agreed to be kinda bad, they are also remembered fondly by many. If you have memories of Storm Riders, A Man Called Hero, and Dragon Tiger Gate, share them!

I think I'll delay our video on Ong-Bak for just a bit longer, partly because in the process of viewing the films, I've discovered that Ong-Bak 3 is... pretty hard to watch. But also, I want to turn one of our previous update into a full video. That is, I want to talk about why movies like Fast X do so well in China. I feel pretty strongly about the topic after some thinking, and I have much more I want to say about it. Time for research.

We also have a video on Dangal currently in the work. Part of the video will be about a strange Chinese cultural phenomenon about raising daughters as if they are sons. If you have experienced this and don't mind sharing your perspective, DM me!

MEDIA TALK

Here is something strange I've noticed in Hong Kong. And the more I think about it, the weirder it gets.

We are all familiar with the concept of celebrity endorsements, right? Nike would sponsor LeBron James. He'd wear their products as endorsement, and sometimes appear in their advertisements. That much isn't strange.

But Hong Kong takes their celebrity endorsement to a surreal degree. I regret not taking pictures of it. In the Hong Kong subway, I saw ads for a private clinics endorsed by actor Kenneth Ma, who's famous for (repeatedly) playing doctors in TVB dramas.

It's one thing for an actor to cosplay as a patient for their clinics. You know, like Julia Roberts advertising a dental clinic with her iconic smile. It's a whole different thing to cosplay as the doctor. It kinda sets up a weird expectation, doesn't it?

There's a similar ad for either a noodle place or a pastry brand, I can't remember exactly. The slogan says something along the line of "50 years of hearty craftsmanship", bragging about the skill of their chef. The chef in question? Hong Kong actor and comedian Eric Tsang.

Why? Under normal circumstances, wouldn't you just show a picture of the actual chef, or for that matter, the actual doctor?

From financial management to law firms, I saw all sorts of ads featuring Hong Kong celebrities in the roles of professionals instead of consumers and customers. It did make me wonder why that is the case, and my guess is: A lot of Hong Kongers, especially the older generations who'd look at these ads, are partial to seeing actors in these roles.

If you don't know, a lot of Hong Kong TVB dramas with modern day settings have a common theme: Professional lives. They are commonly about the lives of lawyers, doctors, police officers, fire fighters, pilots, but also sometimes bus drivers, investors, private detectives, etc. Many people grew up watching the aforementioned actors playing professionals on TV, and the ads may elicit a level of nostalgia.

One last thing I do have to mention, though, is how few foreign celebrity there is. Not that American stars appear all that often in ads across anywhere in China, but it is especially rare in Hong Kong, it seems.

Is Hong Kong weird for having this kind of ads, or is it common where you live as well?

Anyway, that is the update for the week. I'll see you very soon with a new video!