One of China’s biggest dating websites Baihe.com probably never imagined their seemingly smart and touching TV advertisement would backfire and lead to an online protest.
In an effort to promote its offline dating service store, Beihe released a commercial on TV during Chinese New Year. The holiday for family reunions is also a frustrating period for many Chinese singles as the attention and pressure surrounding personal matters from the whole family is simply unbearable. So Baihe’s 30-second commercial comes right in time.
Screenshot of the commercial “Because of love, I won't wait”
It’s about a young single woman who finally gets married for the sake of her dying grandma. Her grandma asks whether she’s getting married each time she goes back home regardless of her successful academic and career achievements. The title reads: Because of love, I won't wait. The commercial only sends one message: Whether or not it’s the right person, as long as you get married, you have fulfilled the family's wish, your personal wish and happiness should be subordinated to the family.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul0KyzDK5Cs
The commercial has triggered a lot of complaints online, saying it’s trying to promote wrong marriage values by taking advantage of family kinship. On Feb 6 2014, netizen “Cai Puning” organized a campaign on Sina Weibo to protest against Baihe. Within less than two days, over 7 million people joined the campaign. They urged that the commercial should be banned and the Baihe website should apologize to the netizens.
One netizen “Lao Chao” commented on Weibo:
在老外婆垂死前一声声催命似地追问下，女孩走进婚姻，又一个鲜活的生命成为亲情的殉葬品，“这是我见过的最恐怖最狼心狗肺的广告”。
Before the dying old grandmother who cries urgently for her marriage, the girl rushed into marriage, and a lively life has become a sacrifice of family kinship. This is the most horrible and ungrateful ad I've ever seen.
Another netizen “Gongda Houyuaner” is more concerned about the gender inequality the commercial conveys:
其实逼婚并没有那么反感，但是通篇表达的性别歧视让人不满。否认女主角事业学业，只承认她的婚姻价值。
Actually forced marriage is not so objectionable, but the expression of gender discrimination throughout annoys me. [The society] denies her academic career, and only recognizes the value of her marriage.
8 comments
wow, this is terrible psychological blackmailing! of course a lot of young Chinese folks are outraged, we’re not in 1814! imho China needs a new 1919 and, perhaps, a new 1921…
Ever see the movie “Raise the Red Lantern”? I thought those days were over in China.
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