A well-known Chinese comedian recently scored a big PR win for a Beijing seafood restaurant.
Comedian Guo De Hang, one of the biggest names in Chinese show business, drew plenty of attention to his seafood appetite last week with a photo of him posing with a giant tray of vannemei and mantis shrimp, scallops and crabs on the Weibo social messaging platform.
Guo said he was “treating a big bunch of friends” to a meal at a particular Beijing seafood restaurant after having had CNY 700,000 (USD 104,738, EUR 93,989) seized by police during a raid at his house. That appears to have been a reference to ongoing corruption campaign which has featured the ill-gotten gains of numerous politicians.
The Chinese public took the bait; the story of Guo's "fake arrest" was picked up by bloggers and media across China and got the seafood restaurant’s name before hundreds of millions of Chinese. The stunt shows the usefulness of social media in marketing products like seafood in China. Guo has 65 million followers on Chinese site Weibo and has been using his microblog to promote other products, like his new Australian wine range.
Online opinions leaders like Guo are highly influential in promoting products – butg they remain limited in what socio-economic or political issues they can raise without igniting the annoyance of China’s one-party government.
Guo, who specializes in “crosstalk,” a pun-heavy variety of comedy popular in China, is currently preparing for a North American tour.
