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A new ad campaign by luxury cosmetics brand SK-II addresses a social issue in China that doesn’t receive as much attention as it should in the country’s commercial scene: the plight of “left over women”, or sheng nu — a derogatory one used for those who haven’t found a husband by their mid to late twenties.
- Though this may not be a big deal in the West, for women in China it is one that impacts women on a deeper level than simply a parent’s disappointment.
- “Not getting married is a sign of disrespect,” says one woman before breaking down, and tearfully apologising to the camera for disappointing her family.
Because of this social pressure that Chinese women face to get married, SK-II has taken the time to construct a video, which they uploaded onto Youtube and WeChat to specially address this issue. The video by SK-II begins by juxtaposing a montage of photographs of young girls with audio phrases from their parents, such as:
- “I won’t die in peace unless you are married,”
- “Don’t be so free willed,” and,
- “You’re too picky,”
In China, a Marriage Market is where parents normally go, to browse the “resumes” of potential suitors for their daughters. However as the video progresses, viewers see that instead of “resumes” of men, the parents find beautiful photos of the women that were shown earlier in the first part of the four minute video. Each paired with statements of confidence like, “I don’t want to get married just for the sake of marriage. I won’t live happily that way.” Another says, “I have a great career and there is another term called ‘power woman.’”
So far, the “Marriage Market Takeover” Youtube video has more than 250,000 hits after two days of being released, and its WeChat post is quickly catching up with more than 100,000 pageviews and a growing number of comments of encouragement from supportive fans.
Source: Jing Daily
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