The online celebrities making a mint in China
‘Ordinary’ people with strong personalities and outspoken views are attracting huge followings online — and with it lucrative advertising deals
Papi Sauce refers to a popular brand of chilli condiment in the United States, but in China it is the alias of a woman who has become one of the hottest celebrities among mainland internet users in recent months.
Her three-minute videos posted to her Sina microblog account of her playing different roles and commenting on the latest social topics in an exaggerated, sarcastic and often self-deprecating way, have helped her attract more than 10 million followers.
Jiang Yilei, her real name, lived a quiet life at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing a year ago, but now finds herself the mainland’s second best known web celebrity after Wang Sicong, the flamboyant son of China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin – according to the mainland’s IT industry flagship magazine Internet Weekly.
The arrival of social media in the mainland more than a decade ago and the increasing accessibility of the internet has allowed many ordinary young men and women to gain celebrity to massive audiences with their eye-catching opinions and comments.
Many are followed by millions of fans who are keen to catch whatever they do or say. Web celebrities often appear in newspapers or on television as conventional media has developed a fascination for them as well.
But compared to their counterparts years ago, the current crop of big name cyber celebrities are leveraging their fame to cash in, with the earnings on par with first-tier stars.