Holidays ‘hijacked’ by ads on Facebook, Greenpeace study claims
Social analytics scan of local public posts around festive periods show large proportion involve sales promotions
Major holidays in Hong Kong are being “hijacked” by advertisements and sales promotions on Facebook, according to a study by an environmental group concerned about consumerism, overconsumption and waste.
Greenpeace East Asia employed a social analytics service to scan all local public posts on the city’s most used social media platform in the week up to and after Christmas, Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day last year.
It found that up to three-quarters of public posts made during these periods were some sort of soft-sell sales promotion.
Most of these advertisements used subtle or casual approaches, such as telling a relatable story to appeal to prospective customers and attempting to use feelings such as love, warmth, filial piety, happiness and gratitude to prod people into thinking they must buy gifts for loved ones out of duty, said campaigner Walton Li, who led the research.
“The five main holidays are basically hijacked by advertising,” Li said, adding that most of the messages often mentioned a discount or sale.
He urged the public to consider less material-based gift-giving and look into simpler ways of celebrating holidays to reduce needless purchases and reduce waste.