Despite its ubiquity as the main tool to promote the so-called “consumer revolution” in contemporary mainland China, commercial advertising hasn’t always been welcomed by the Chinese authorities. On the contrary, following a short and intense development in the ’20s and ’30s, its growth was abruptedly interrupted by the ascent of Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its reintroduction took place only starting from 1979, in concomitance with the process of reform and opening up initiated by Deng Xiaoping and the publication of the famous article “Restoring the Good Name of Advertising” by Ding Yunpeng. Undoubtedly, the Chinese authorities had to find a set of rethoric strategies in order to legitimise the “unexpected” return of a phenomenon that not long before was accused of being “the Bible of capitalism”. In order to show a substantial adherence to Marxism and its critical position towards advertising, the Chinese official sources of that time recalled the necessity of developing a socialist advertising or even a socialist advertising with Chinese characteristics. These requirements had to be met by the academics and operators of the “new” Chinese advertising industry, but soon turned out to be too ambiguous and contradictionary, and this coveted phenomenon ended up with being very difficult to put into practice. The efforts carried out in the ‘80s and ‘90s haven’t come to an end, though, and China keeps struggling to find its own peculiar form of advertising even today. Rather than focusing on the recent consumer expenditure boom in contemporary China, this chapter concentrates on the “collateral effects” of the country’s growing consumerism, shedding light on the on-going ambivalence of the Chinese authorities towards advertising, by adopting a diachronic perspective and by making an extensive use of Chines-language sources. Firstly, this contribution goes back in history and provides an overview of the origins, rise and decline of advertising in China before 1979, accounting also for the key elements of the political, economical and societal context. Secondly, it describes the uneasy return of advertising in China after the Maoist era with a stress on the ideological implications; more specifically, an in-depth analysis of the key concepts of socialist advertising and socialist advertising with Chinese characteristics will be carried out. Thirdly, this chapter identifies and investigates some contemporary trends in China’s advertising culture – namely, the emphasis on creativity and the need for an advertising with Chinese elements - which spread following China’s outward-looking policy, its entrance to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its emergence on the global scene. The conclusions drawn at the end of this chapter argue that the new call for a creative advertising with Chinese elements can be understood as a continuation of the campaign aimed at differentiating Chinese (socialist) advertising from Western (capitalist) advertising – or to keep a “Chinese way” in advertising – that started some decades ago. This “new” advertising has its distinctive reasons, characteristics and aims, and is explicitly being promoted through the use of a more modern terminology.

"Advertising and China: How Does a Love/Hate Relationship Work?"

PUPPIN G
2014-01-01

Abstract

Despite its ubiquity as the main tool to promote the so-called “consumer revolution” in contemporary mainland China, commercial advertising hasn’t always been welcomed by the Chinese authorities. On the contrary, following a short and intense development in the ’20s and ’30s, its growth was abruptedly interrupted by the ascent of Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its reintroduction took place only starting from 1979, in concomitance with the process of reform and opening up initiated by Deng Xiaoping and the publication of the famous article “Restoring the Good Name of Advertising” by Ding Yunpeng. Undoubtedly, the Chinese authorities had to find a set of rethoric strategies in order to legitimise the “unexpected” return of a phenomenon that not long before was accused of being “the Bible of capitalism”. In order to show a substantial adherence to Marxism and its critical position towards advertising, the Chinese official sources of that time recalled the necessity of developing a socialist advertising or even a socialist advertising with Chinese characteristics. These requirements had to be met by the academics and operators of the “new” Chinese advertising industry, but soon turned out to be too ambiguous and contradictionary, and this coveted phenomenon ended up with being very difficult to put into practice. The efforts carried out in the ‘80s and ‘90s haven’t come to an end, though, and China keeps struggling to find its own peculiar form of advertising even today. Rather than focusing on the recent consumer expenditure boom in contemporary China, this chapter concentrates on the “collateral effects” of the country’s growing consumerism, shedding light on the on-going ambivalence of the Chinese authorities towards advertising, by adopting a diachronic perspective and by making an extensive use of Chines-language sources. Firstly, this contribution goes back in history and provides an overview of the origins, rise and decline of advertising in China before 1979, accounting also for the key elements of the political, economical and societal context. Secondly, it describes the uneasy return of advertising in China after the Maoist era with a stress on the ideological implications; more specifically, an in-depth analysis of the key concepts of socialist advertising and socialist advertising with Chinese characteristics will be carried out. Thirdly, this chapter identifies and investigates some contemporary trends in China’s advertising culture – namely, the emphasis on creativity and the need for an advertising with Chinese elements - which spread following China’s outward-looking policy, its entrance to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its emergence on the global scene. The conclusions drawn at the end of this chapter argue that the new call for a creative advertising with Chinese elements can be understood as a continuation of the campaign aimed at differentiating Chinese (socialist) advertising from Western (capitalist) advertising – or to keep a “Chinese way” in advertising – that started some decades ago. This “new” advertising has its distinctive reasons, characteristics and aims, and is explicitly being promoted through the use of a more modern terminology.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11567/1034116
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