Tuesday, January 18, 2011

China's set up shop in the Times Square Spectaculars until Feb 14

From the Wall Street Journal online today:
When many Americans think of China, they think of a rising rival accused of manipulating its currency and siphoning U.S. jobs. China's government wants them to think of sports stars, Internet entrepreneurs, and astronauts.

As President Hu Jintao begins his visit to the U.S. this week, China is blitzing America with a flashy television ad that mixes images of ordinary Chinese citizens with celebrities like NBA star Yao Ming, Web tycoon Jack Ma, and a quartet of fashion models. The minute-long video is scheduled to run on CNN

Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704678004576089881162633472.html
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This Wall Street Journal Blog shows a photo of the ad space (yes, technically called a “spectacular”) and the video from YouTube is embedded.
http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/01/18/pro-china-ad-debuts-in-times-square/
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My take on it:
I spent a lot of time in World Showcase in Epcot in college driving the boats between the countries for work… and I must say, it looks like this video is something Disney would put up in the China Pavilion in Epcot to explain China to foreigners. (And there has been a China pavilion in Epcot since 1982.) I think Disney does a good job of giving people an untainted opinion of the promise China holds for the world. So… I’m wondering why China spent the money on a Times Square spectacular (among other TV ad money) – I wonder who the true target audience is…. because the tourists in Times Square have all been to Disney World already. I can vouch for that.

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