Barack Obama appears in Weatherproof advert in Times Square
When Obama visited Beijing last year he took time out from his busy schedule to take in some city sights. The Great Wall is a must see for any visitor, so naturally he was photographed on the wall. I remember watching the news that night and questioning myself to his choice of clothing.
November is cold in Beijing, but being on the Wall can be even colder and windier, as you are exposed to the harsh elements. Despite this Obama wore a rather short black jacket. Oddly enough all his staff and security were wearing long thick black coats.
So when photographs of Obama appeared on Times Square advertising this brand of jacket, it got me thinking. Was this a conspiracy theory to subliminal product placement or even undercover brand endorsement by Obama.
President Barack Obama became a presidential pitchman on Wednesday after the clothing company Weatherproof used his photograph on a Times Square billboard without permission.
The outerwear company used a recent news photo of the president in front of the Great Wall in China for the advertisement, with the tagline “A Leader In Style”.
Happiest City in China: Hangzhou
I love living in Beijing as it has the buzz of a capital city and all the trappings of a big modern international metropolis. Like most great capitals it has art, culture, history and a fast changing nightlife and restaurants scene. But is this enough to make people happy?
Well according to a new survey Hangzhou is the happiest place to live in China – and Beijing doesn’t even make the top 10. Infact it’s it not even ranked in the surveys top 20 sub lists. Well I still love Beijing, but of course it can always improve, so lets hope it does better next year.
The city of Hangzhou again tops a list of the 10 “happiest cities” in China, published by Oriental Outlook magazine, which is affiliated with China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.
The magazine claims nearly 30 million people participated in the survey via questionnaires in newspapers or over the Internet or mobile phones. There was also an independent survey involving a total of 600,000 people from 100 Chinese cities. The evaluation looked at factors such as pace of life, “human touch,” opportunities to make money, convenience, natural environment, culture and entertainment options, safety as well as the gap between rich and poor.
New ad campaign touts ‘made in China’
Late last year I wrote a story about the Made In China commercial that was aired on local and international stations. Despite the good intention I felt the overall message would only reinforce negative views of China.
This recent article by Calum MacLeod at USA Today explores this issue in more detail and has a couple of quotes from me. Reinforcing my point of view on the ad, but also my long term positivity in the future of Chinese brands.
Tainted toothpaste, drugged catfish, lead-painted Elmos, poison pet food.
Scandals involving Chinese-made products have ordinary people here worried that a bad reputation threatens to derail their status as No. 1 exporter in the world.
So what to do? Call in Madison Avenue.
“Made in China, made with the world” is the theme of an ad campaign masterminded by DDB Guoan, the Chinese branch of Manhattan-based agency DDB.