Just saw this Zales ad:
If an Asian version of this ad ran here in Shanghai, most of the Chinese women that I know would orgasm while sitting in their cubicles. Sorry for being crass, but melodrama hits a G-spot for pop culture consuming women in Asia. Sadly, most of it is about a million hairs more in-your-face than the one above. People here seem to enjoy allowing themselves to get blatantly jerked around by melodramatists pushing a wickedly overblown vision of romance.
For example, check out this Korean music video from a while ago. To me, this is the pinnacle of over-the-top cheese, and when I first saw it all I could do was groan. But in Asia, people like me are in the distinct minority. This particular video, in which (SPOILER ALERT) a chick has an accident and goes blind, only to have her boyfriend donate his eyeballs to her, takes romantic tragedy into the realm of the truly absurd. But it was one of the most popular videos in the region when it was released and is a potent reference even today as the embodiment of glossy, tortured tearjerker porn:
The thing is, this stuff is so pervasive here in China, whether through popular Korean soap operas, music videos for Taiwanese pop songs, and TVCs for everything from ice cream bars to SUVs. Forget irony, this is what has come to define romance for young women (and sadly, too many susceptible men) who can afford their trifling fantasies.
An ad like the Zales one, which hit on elements of cheese but in a subtle and warm and ALMOST realistic way, are almost non-existent on the networks. I think, though, that more and more folks, as they are increasingly bombarded by Western-influenced creative, are starting to wise up. It’s this kind of advertising that may become the style of record in the near future. I really hope so, because if I see one more young woman in a music video who has some terminal illness but refuses to tell her shy, mopey lover until it’s too late, I’m going to eat my left fist.
Tags: advertising, asia pop culture, commercials
