Year of the Pig: Western brands push pigs in CNY campaigns, some fail

World
Europe

02:25

As Chinese people go on a spending spree in the run-up to the holiday, many Western luxury brands are incorporating elements of Chinese traditions into their design. But it seems not all of them are doing it right. CGTN's Han Peng takes a look from Shanghai.

It's the year of the pig according to the Chinese zodiac. This auspicious animal has become an inspiration for many Western luxury brands eager to boost sales, as the Chinese are gearing up for their most important festival of the year.

JOAN JIANG CHA LING SALESPERSON "We've painted the images of pigs on our perfumes. This makes the products look festive when you give them as gifts to your friends and family."

This month, this centuries-old German kitchenware brand unveiled several knives exclusively designed to cook Chinese food.

HAN PENG SHANGHAI "Cooking Chinese cuisine demands a whole different set of cutleries, and this German knife and fork maker is trying very hard to appeal to chopsticks users."

Western brands often project their image in China as representing high-end and high-quality Western lifestyles. But their strategies are changing these days.

MA LIFENG, GENERAL MANAGER ZWILLING CHINA "The new generation of Chinese are proud of China, and they may pick up this knife. In the past, they may choose our knife because of Zwilling and its high technologies. This time, perhaps the first reason is: yes, I'm Chinese, and I'd like to use this knife to cook Chinese food at home."

But not every brand made it in their Chinese New Year campaign. British fashion label Burberry launched what was meant to be a festive advertisement featuring a Chinese family get-together, but it was slammed by many netizens as looking like an Asian horror movie poster.

And it's not the alone. Some luxury brands seem too blunt in putting Chinese elements in their design, and netizens say they are just too ugly to be worth the prices.

QINGQING SHANGHAI RESIDENT "I think the designers have very bad taste. They don't really understand China, so they miss the point of what the Chinese people like."

Western luxury brands used to define what beauty is in China, one of the world's largest luxury markets. But today, it seems not everyone is buying what they sell.

Han Peng, CGTN, Shanghai.