Actor Yang Yang prepares backstage at Majestic Hotel on May 23 in Cannes, France. VITTORIO ZUNINO CELOTTO/GETTY IMAGES FOR KERING

The Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana invited the Chinese actor Chen Xuedong and the fashion blogger Gogoboi to walk down the runway in its fashion show in Milan last year, along with other international internet influencers and A-listers, and that decision to use people who are not professional models raised eyebrows in many circles.

In choosing personalities to market products, cosmetic brands tend to have more room for maneuver than their counterparts in the world of jewelry and watches, because the latter tend to be a lot more expensive. The cosmetics companies also work closely with e-commerce sites to directly transform fans into customers.

When the actor Yang Yang was picked as the spokesman for the French cosmetic brand Guerlain, his admirers instantly started buying the products he was speaking for. The brand hosted a live stream program on Tmall, in which Yang picks lipstick for the fans and applies it for them. After the live streaming, a shade named after Yang soon sold out, and soon a campaign was launched online, ostensibly by fans, calling on fellow fans to buy Guerlain products and support Yang's endorsement.

"Whatever he endorses, I will try my best to buy and to support him," an admirer said on the reviews website Douban.

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