(Note: The advertisement above and information regarding the musician endorsing it was taken from notfromaroundhere's blog)
I stumbled upon a blog when searching for pictures of cellphones advertisement. This ad is in Chinese, and according to that blog, the model in this ad is Chinese Pop Star Alexander Lee-Hom Wang. The ad reads in Chinese "I (need to/will) change myself. The background and the model himself are an interesting contrast of colors, certainly something to catch one's attention. His expression shows confidence and composure, most likely because he has this new phone. His pose/body language further illustrates this, as if he's showing off his new phone. There's even a picture of an attractive woman on the phone's LCD. But wait a minute, what exactly is he selling? Is he simply advertising a cellular phone, a tool for mobility? Is he advertising an image of what the phone may bring? Perhaps status, a sense of 'coolness'? Since he is a Pop Star, he may appeal to a lot of his fans of both gender. Some girls may think 'Oh my God, it's Lee-Hom! I want the phone he's holding!' or 'He looks so good in this ad, I want that phone'. Guys may think, even subconsciously 'He looks cool in that ad, maybe if I get this phone I'll be cool like him'. Some may feel they are emulating or relating to Lee-Hom by owning the phone he's holding.
Referring back the slogan on top of the page 'I [will] change myself', what exactly does this mean? Is this device for keeping in touch with other people going to bring self improvement? What kind of change is the ad talking about? A person is going to change from what to what? Maybe because this phone is revolutionary and a new model that it will bring about change in the way a person communicates with others. What if the person already has a perfectly functional phone, does that improve one's mobility? Are there advanced features that will increase one's mobility with this new phone such as increased reception? My guess is no. I'm still using a two-year old Nokia phone that came free when signing up for a phone plan and I have no problems with reception. Even after I dropping it at least fifty times. So what kind of change will this phone bring about? If the same function of this phone can be achieved with a 'lesser (inexpensive, older) phone', my best guess is a change in self image. If a person requires an object to influence his self image, I have every right to be worried.
6 comments:
This is a good example of how a post can describe and analyze a multifaceted piece of popular culture. Nicely done, Peter.
"改变自己" (which, sadly, was put as "Change Me" in English) was the name of the singer's last album - the one that was coming out when the advertisement was released - and the name of the first single he released. He released it concurrent with a campaign for greater environmental awareness (very popular these days, though not a bad idea to introduce in China), and the lyrics talk about how you can make little changes in your own life that help improve the world. I think the only new feature of the phone is that you shake it to change the music track, which could be why they used the name of his most recent song/album on the advertisement.
Of course, all of your analysis still holds true: there is the implication that buying this new cell phone means making some really fundamental change about yourself.
My blackberry DOES make me more mobile since I can get emails from anywhere. Perhaps in some jobs one can survive with a two year old Nokia but for those of us who use features besides dialing and talking (which are amongst the least common things I do with my "phone")--including this phone's nice music player--I think it's fair to say that a mobile phone can actually affect your quality of life.
I also never ever think of Leehom as a "pop star" since he is an actually talented and seriously trained musician, not to mention, as Merry pointed out, a pretty serious kid. The campaign for environmental change was one thing, but his work with World Vision is amazing. If young kids want to look up to him it's fine with me, and as Merry has pointed out many times before, due to the rampant piracy in Asia most musicians can only sustain a living by doing product endorsements. If that keeps them making music it's fine with me too.
@ Merry and notfromaroundhere:
Thank you for your comments. I wouldn't have know these things about Leehom, his music career (album) and the context of this advertisement otherwise.
@ notfromaroundhere, I don't have any negative feelings towards mobile phones, in fact I'm thinking of upgrading my old Nokia to something like a Blackberry or an iPhone in the next few months. I was describing an ad for an English class and happened to find the picture and your blog. I do admit that without proper knowledge of Leehom and his music career/campaign in relation to the ad, my interpretation of it is different than what it is now. However, I still feel the ad's subliminal messages or alternative way of interpreting (change me) exist.
As for being referring to Leehom as a pop star, I actually got that from your site "she was showing me photos of my favorite Asian pop star Leehom in a Chinese magazine when we stumbled on this ad". I personally have nothing against Leehom or mobile phones. I just feel that the advertisement might be misleading in the ways I have described in my post. I too find it unfortunate that musicians must support themselves through advertisements/product endorsements despite their talent.
PS: I apologize for not crediting you for the image of the advertisement or for the information on Leehom which I took from your blog. I will change that right now.
I admit there are two totally independent categories of "pop stars" in my world, those with musical talent and those without. Leehom is very much like Prince in that he happens to be both selling albums and a musical genius. I guess I feel okay saying so, and using the term "pop star" when I know this deeper meaning underneath, but without this advanced knowledge I hate the term.
I also still think that in light of the translation information provided by Merry your assessment of the ad is a bit harsh!
To Merry and Notfromaroundhere: it's true, Peter wrote this critique for a writing class. In the class I am currently teaching, I had my students each start a blog to experiment with posts as a genre for critical writing. Recently I asked my students to describe problems of mobility and identity in common ads that they had found. I am really glad that you commented, though, because this helps part of the aim of my class, which is to have audiences actually be public rather than just be hypothetically ‘public’. So thanks for taking the time to write!
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