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 Editor's note: As a growing number of Chinese brands are placed in Hollywood movies, and with more copyrighted American movies and TV series becoming popular on the Chinese video websites, there's no question that Chinese brands are pushing to reach both the domestic and international markets.
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 Chinese brands get the goods on Transformers
When Marjorie Ma, a Chinese student in the United States, heard "May I finish my Shuhua milk?" in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, she couldn't believe her ears. "A Chinese milk brand in a Hollywood movie about humanoid robots? Why and how did that happen?" Liu Siru can answer that question. Liu's Filmworks, an entertainment marketing company, helped four Chinese businesses place their products in the summer blockbuster, which will open at mainland theaters on July 21, a month after its US premiere. [Full Story]
Chinese brands gaining an edge The human and mechanized characters of the film, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, are in full flight in a dramatic and action-filled scene. As they move swiftly on a highway, a huge billboard advertising products of the Metersbonwe Group, a Chinese fashion and accessories brand, can be clearly seen. And the billboard reappears a few more times throughout the film. [Full Story]
Made in China, loved everywhere Product placement has long been ubiquitous in Hollywood movies. Everyone who watched the 1981 blockbuster E.T. remembers ET croaking out "Reese's pieces" while happily munching down the trail Elliot has left for him. In his later film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg made sure to include the Mercedes Benz logo in the close up shots of the SUV that Jeff Goldblum and his team use to explore the park. [Full Story]
Chinese dairy brand seen in US TV show A scene from Episode 17 Season 5 of The Big Bang Theory, a popular American sitcom, triggered online discussions among Chinese audiences. A carton of Shuhua milk distributed by dairy brand Yili Industrial Group was spotted on the table of the home of the two leading characters in the comedy, Sheldon and Leonard, the International Herald Tribune reported on April 2, 2012.[Full Story] |
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Notes: These days, Chinese elements and images can be seen in a growing number Hollywood movies. Some of those "accidental exposures" brought in all kinds of unexpected attention and even profit to the industries they represent.
Peaks' name change 'not due to Avatar' In response to the increasing criticism on the renaming of its mountain peaks, tourism bureau officials in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province, said the name was not changed due to the movie Avatar. "The civil spontaneous action to rename the peak just shows that Zhangjiajie is protecting its own authority and special value as a World Natural Heritage," Ding Yunyong, director of the city's tourism bureau, said yesterday.[Full Story]
Kung Fu Panda promotes Chengdu's tourism
The award ceremony of the most influential tourism marketing cases in China 2010-2011 was held in Ningbo Grand Theater, Zhejiang province, on Nov 21. Du Jiang, Vice Director of the National Tourism Administration presented the prizes for the prizewinners. Chengdu portrayed its city's image through DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda, which stood out from more than 220 contestant cases, winning the prize.[Full Story]
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China has been working hard to increase its global soft power. While Chinese films rarely enter Hollywood's mainstream cinema scene, Chinese specialists of CG, animation and 3D technology have been involved in such Hollywood blockbusters as Mission: Impossible, Super 8 and Spider-Man.[Full Story] Iron Man 3 to be co-produced in China The next "Iron Man" film will be co-produced in China under a joint agreement between Walt Disney Co, Marvel Studios and DMG Entertainment, the latest in a series of tie-ups between Hollywood and China where movie-going is growing fast.[Full Story] Can Hollywood help China's silver screen shine? If films are vehicles for China's soft power, can they be produced on a conveyor belt like the real thing, with the help of some expertise from Hollywood? This appears to be the hope after Walt Disney and Marvel Studios announced they have partnered with Beijing-based DMG Entertainment to produce Iron Man III, set to appear in a theater near you in May 2013. [Full Story] Sailing on rough waters Titanic turned out to be a phenomenon in 1998, in terms of its reputation, box-office returns and the aftershock it caused among filmmakers and audiences, but the Hollywood ship did not sail into China easily.[Full Story] |
Visualizing the future