Page 324 - 2022 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
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2 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
in China have diligently censored the logos and feats in postproduction. Contestants on another
symbols of brands like Adidas that adorn items reality show for entertainers, “Sisters Who Make
worn by contestants performing dance, singing Waves,” practiced cartwheels in sneakers blitzed
and standup-comedy routines. The phenomenon into indiscernible blurs. So many shoes were
followed a feud between the government and erased in the stand-up comedy series, “Roast” that
big-name international companies. While the when a group gathered on a podium, the space
anger in China against Western brands has been between the floor and their long hems appeared
palpable and enduring on social media, the sight to melt into a fog. The onscreen blur or crop is
of performers turned into rapidly moving blobs hardly novel in China. The earlobes of male pop
of censored shoes and clothing has provided stars have been airbrushed to hide earrings
rare, albeit unintentional, comic relief for Chinese deemed too effeminate. A period drama featuring
viewers amid a heated global dispute. Most of décolletage distinctive to the Tang Dynasty was
the brands were not discernible, but some could pulled off the air in 2015, only to be replaced with
be identified. Chinese brands did not appear to a version that cropped out much of the costumes
be blurred. It’s not clear if Chinese government and awkwardly zoomed in on the talking heads
officials explicitly ordered the shows to obscure of the performers. Soccer players have been
the brands. But experts said that the video ordered to cover arm tattoos with long sleeves.
streaming sites apparently felt pressured or The onscreen censorship illustrates the difficult
obliged to publicly distance themselves from line that the online video platforms, which are
Western brands amid the feud. The censorship regulated by the National Radio and Television
may have been a response to both state and Administration, need to tread (May).
grass-roots patriotism, especially as the opinions
of nationalistic viewers become more prominent Works Cited
and louder. The platforms most likely censored
the brands to pre-empt a backlash from viewers. Bloomberg. “China’s Economy Weakens on
The fear is that if anyone is not happy with those Delta Outbreak and Wary Consumers.” Bloomberg.
brands appearing in the shows, they could start com, Bloomberg, 14 Sept. 2021, www.bloomberg.
a social media campaign attacking the producers, com/news/articles/2021-09-15/china-s-economy-
which could attract attention from the government weakens-as-consumers-turn-wary-amid-outbreak.
and eventually lead to punishment.
Cheng, Evelyn. “Stuck in China, Consumers Are
As the blurring spread across apparel brands, it Spending Millions for Luxury Goods in Hainan.” CNBC,
led to some hiccups on shows. The video platform CNBC, 8 Oct. 2021, www.cnbc.com/2021/10/08/
iQiyi announced that it would delay the release china-golden-week-consumers-are-spending-
of an episode of “Youth With You 3,” a reality millions-on-luxury-goods-in-hainan.html.
show for aspiring pop idols. It did not disclose the
reason, but internet users surmised that it had Cision. “Trip.com Group Releases Latest Mainland
to do with Adidas, which had supplied T-shirts China Night-Time Economy Consumption Trends.”
and sneakers for the contestants to wear as a Yahoo!, Yahoo!, 9 July 2021, www.yahoo.com/now/
sort of team uniform. Some internet users made trip-com-group-releases-latest-100400083.html.
mocking predictions about how the upcoming
episode would look, photoshopping images to He, Wel. “E-Tailers Change China,
flip the contestants vertically so that their Adidas World.” Chinadaily.com.cn, 22 June 2021,
T-shirts read, “Sabiba” instead. When the episode www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202106/22/
streamed two days later, pixelated rectangles WS60d13d97a31024ad0baca8fa.html.
obscured the T-shirts and sports jackets of dozens
of dancers and the distinguishing triple stripes on May, Tiffany. “Chinese Reality Shows Censor
their Adidas sneakers. Internet users observed Western Clothing Brands - the ...” New York Times,
mirthfully that none of the shirts had been spared, 9 Apr. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/world/
save for the one contestant who had worn his shirt asia/china-blur-brands-xinjiang-cotton.html.
backward. Other shows executed similar blurring
324
in China have diligently censored the logos and feats in postproduction. Contestants on another
symbols of brands like Adidas that adorn items reality show for entertainers, “Sisters Who Make
worn by contestants performing dance, singing Waves,” practiced cartwheels in sneakers blitzed
and standup-comedy routines. The phenomenon into indiscernible blurs. So many shoes were
followed a feud between the government and erased in the stand-up comedy series, “Roast” that
big-name international companies. While the when a group gathered on a podium, the space
anger in China against Western brands has been between the floor and their long hems appeared
palpable and enduring on social media, the sight to melt into a fog. The onscreen blur or crop is
of performers turned into rapidly moving blobs hardly novel in China. The earlobes of male pop
of censored shoes and clothing has provided stars have been airbrushed to hide earrings
rare, albeit unintentional, comic relief for Chinese deemed too effeminate. A period drama featuring
viewers amid a heated global dispute. Most of décolletage distinctive to the Tang Dynasty was
the brands were not discernible, but some could pulled off the air in 2015, only to be replaced with
be identified. Chinese brands did not appear to a version that cropped out much of the costumes
be blurred. It’s not clear if Chinese government and awkwardly zoomed in on the talking heads
officials explicitly ordered the shows to obscure of the performers. Soccer players have been
the brands. But experts said that the video ordered to cover arm tattoos with long sleeves.
streaming sites apparently felt pressured or The onscreen censorship illustrates the difficult
obliged to publicly distance themselves from line that the online video platforms, which are
Western brands amid the feud. The censorship regulated by the National Radio and Television
may have been a response to both state and Administration, need to tread (May).
grass-roots patriotism, especially as the opinions
of nationalistic viewers become more prominent Works Cited
and louder. The platforms most likely censored
the brands to pre-empt a backlash from viewers. Bloomberg. “China’s Economy Weakens on
The fear is that if anyone is not happy with those Delta Outbreak and Wary Consumers.” Bloomberg.
brands appearing in the shows, they could start com, Bloomberg, 14 Sept. 2021, www.bloomberg.
a social media campaign attacking the producers, com/news/articles/2021-09-15/china-s-economy-
which could attract attention from the government weakens-as-consumers-turn-wary-amid-outbreak.
and eventually lead to punishment.
Cheng, Evelyn. “Stuck in China, Consumers Are
As the blurring spread across apparel brands, it Spending Millions for Luxury Goods in Hainan.” CNBC,
led to some hiccups on shows. The video platform CNBC, 8 Oct. 2021, www.cnbc.com/2021/10/08/
iQiyi announced that it would delay the release china-golden-week-consumers-are-spending-
of an episode of “Youth With You 3,” a reality millions-on-luxury-goods-in-hainan.html.
show for aspiring pop idols. It did not disclose the
reason, but internet users surmised that it had Cision. “Trip.com Group Releases Latest Mainland
to do with Adidas, which had supplied T-shirts China Night-Time Economy Consumption Trends.”
and sneakers for the contestants to wear as a Yahoo!, Yahoo!, 9 July 2021, www.yahoo.com/now/
sort of team uniform. Some internet users made trip-com-group-releases-latest-100400083.html.
mocking predictions about how the upcoming
episode would look, photoshopping images to He, Wel. “E-Tailers Change China,
flip the contestants vertically so that their Adidas World.” Chinadaily.com.cn, 22 June 2021,
T-shirts read, “Sabiba” instead. When the episode www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202106/22/
streamed two days later, pixelated rectangles WS60d13d97a31024ad0baca8fa.html.
obscured the T-shirts and sports jackets of dozens
of dancers and the distinguishing triple stripes on May, Tiffany. “Chinese Reality Shows Censor
their Adidas sneakers. Internet users observed Western Clothing Brands - the ...” New York Times,
mirthfully that none of the shirts had been spared, 9 Apr. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/04/09/world/
save for the one contestant who had worn his shirt asia/china-blur-brands-xinjiang-cotton.html.
backward. Other shows executed similar blurring
324
