Beijing’s “Nanluogu Xiang” Hutong (alley) is a bustling mix of stores, bars and eateries… A favourite of ex-pat’s and locals alike.
At night, the alley is illuminated by the lights from within the restaurants, street lamps and bright red Chinese lanterns.
But tonight, all of this has been washed out in a sea of tacky corporate badvertising.
Stand up and be counted, Visa. Everyone’s been talking about China’s effort to take on the air pollution, but what about Visa’s campaign to create visual pollution?
Here, in this picture, we see a man drilling a hole in a beautiful Beijing restaurant’s wall. Why is he doing this?
Oh, I see – this is why – he’s doing it for Visa! A credit card company…
And looky-here: there’s plenty where that one came from…
The alley I’m describing is narrow – it has room enough for one car to pass by and all the bikes and pedestrians have to scurry out if the way. To fill the alley with lightboxes for a credit card isn’t just tackey, it’s insulting to Chinese culture and offensive to visitors who expect to be able to enjoy Beijing’s charm without multinational’s trashing said charm for a perceived marketing benefit.
Personally, I think they’ve miscalculated. I can’t imagine getting ANY goodwill out of running roughshod over a small Chinese neighbourhood just because in ten days a bunch of rich foreigners will be showing up.
I’d love to know what Visa paid, who they paid the money to; whether the shopkeepers are getting remunerated for the loss of charm; and whether someone from Visa is going to be smart enough to literally pull the plug on this ghastly mistake.
If you’re a marketing rep from Visa and you’d like to respond, get in touch.
Brilliant again. There’s a lot of really bad news there.
Perhaps China is that Capitalist and open/free-market in a Friedman sense, that this is actually all allowed and scanctioned. Perhaps it’s just been a time bomb waiting to happen?
Would be scary, but I can’t rule it out based on what I know….Be careful!
Peace,
–Wade
Just want to point out that China is absolutely a capitalist driven economy. They have centralised, Communist planning controls … but don’t be fooled, the market economy rules.
And what we see as charm, the locals see as an opportunity to make money. And if that money can come in lucrative $US, all the better.
I think the complication and intersection of history, economics and futurism is what makes China hold us all in thrall.
Gavin Heatons last blog post..What’s Your Best Holiday?
It’s alway interesting to examine how your own predefined definitions of a foreign culture might impact perceptions of right and wrong.
A westerner’s perception of charm might be a local’s perception of old fashioned- and it is my understanding that western advertising is seen as a modernity cue to a people that haven’t been allowed to monetise their own property and accept hard currency from foreign companies until quite recently.
We all live in the 21st century, the lights in the alley you talk about are electric, and the economic benefits of $US will benefit the owner of that property (private ownership of land has had a significant turnaround in the last 2 decades in China)- and the inhabitants of that alley long after you have gone home.
Katie Chatfields last blog post..Literate Minds
Got to agree with Katie on this one, Tim. Not only are the signs a modernity cue for locals, they’re an amenity cue for tourists, which influences which narrow alleyways they feel safe strolling down. If capitalism is our ideology, branding is our cradle.
No one yet has picked up on Tim’s question about payment. I’m really interested to know whether or not Visa paid these shop owners a yuan. My guess is that they didn’t, and if they did, it would have been negligible.
As far as I’m concerned, Visa’s being a parasite. Yes, a bright fluorescent sign could draw more dollars from foreigners and earn the shop keepers a bit more than they would have earned otherwise, but consider the value to Visa. Virtually free advertising in the Olympics? They should share the spoils.
@wade thanks – I’ll try and stay safe!
@Gavin – “And what we see as charm, the locals see as an opportunity to make money.” Yeah, but did the ‘locals’ actually make money on this one? I don’t know…
@Katie “A westerner’s perception of charm might be a local’s perception of old fashioned…” No doubt that’s true, perhaps the locals haven’t realised the potential in preserving history as a way of attracting those valued foreign $’s?
@Justin Branding is definitely a strong cultural cue, but surely people can be made to feel safe and welcome in a community without 5000 watt credit card advertisements every ten meters.
@Kristen Yeah I hope Visa paid the shopkeeper’s rent for a few months or something equally substantial, but I wonder if this is simply a government enforced gift to a major Olympic sponsor.
What makes you think that a Chinese shopkeeper is a victim? What makes you think that Chinese people have less of an understanding of how to make money out of their own culture than you?
Which part of the famous neon signage in Hong Kong is not ‘chinese’?
Cultural imperialism isn’t only displayed by big brands Tim…..
Payment can come in many forms … and there is certainly a lot of benefit for Chinese to be seen as being aligned with a big Western brand. For example, going to Starbucks in Beijing can add enormously to your personal and family’s prestige.
But make no mistake, the Chinese are anything but naive when it comes to business dealings — no matter whether your are a big brand or a small player, if there is a deal to be done or value to be extracted, it will be done faster than you might imagine.
@Katie I don’t know if the shopkeepers are victims – I’m raising the possibility that they didn’t get a whole lot of say or remuneration in this project. This is a city where many hutongs have been leveled to make way for developments – and the owners of shops etc not appropriately remunerated. The Govt allow the strongarming smaller players all the time.
And I’m not suggesting for a minute that I know how these shopkeepers ought best market their business, I’m just pointing out that – as you well know – the right marketing move isn’t always the obvious one.
@Gavin There’s a difference between being ‘naive in business dealings’ and not getting paid. But as you point out, maybe there is ROI from having the signs and that payment enough?
Saw a TV show on the Hutongs the other night. The things that the Chinese govt do to their own people is a tragedy.