Did Western brands like Givenchy and Sephora get the tone right on China’s National Day?
This article was originally written by Ruonan Zheng for Jing Daily
In case you missed it – really? – October 1 marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
Celebrated as a demonstration of China’s rising national power, the beloved Five-starred Red Flag lined Beijing’s streets, and Chinese citizens both at home and abroad tuned in to watch the pomp and circumstance of the national parade.
Naturally, leading international brands took note of the bubbling national pride of the world’s most populous country – and were keen to share support for the celebrations.
Leveraging our national holiday [to] try to wash clean, huh?
From limited edition products to social media posts, here’s how three leading Western brands marked National Day of the People’s Republic of China in 2019.
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Givenchy
To mark the important date, Givenchy released a limited-edition 70th anniversary T-shirt – of just 70 pieces. On the left corner of each T-shirt is a hand-embroidered number from 1 to 70, and each shirt was personally signed by Givenchy’s creative director Clare Waight Keller.
On its WeChat channel, Givenchy posted a video of a Chinese model expressing her love for China, and another featuring Clare Waight Keller signing the 70 T-shirts. Netizens responded enthusiastically – many wrote, “love Givenchy” under the post, though some were also sceptical. “Leveraging our national holiday [to] try to wash clean, huh?” wrote Weibo user Liangkele.
Sephora
As a Western beauty retailer, Sephora chose to celebrate the holiday by launching an entire China Red themed collection – lipstick, blush, and eye shadow. Netizens commented on the striking shade, as well as how well it fitted the holiday tone.
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Swarovski
Austrian crystal producer Swarovski’s celebratory post on WeChat used a pair of golden sparkles to highlight the number 70.
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From limited edition T-shirts to themed lipsticks and garish red WeChat posts, did international brands exploit this moment of pride in the world’s largest marketplace?