In the last few decades, a new standard has emerged in the world of luxury retail: in late December, many of the world’s most valuable brands will feature exclusive lines of goods covered by Chinese cultural symbols, one of a dozen animal signs of the zodiac, color red or all of the above.
Marketing for this Lunar New Year, which falls on Friday, is no different.
Nike, for example, remixed its high-top sneakers with popping rocket graphics and handcrafted Chinese knots. Apple offered limited edition AirPods Pros with ox emojis stamped on the boxes. Swiss boutique Vacheron Constantin, in turn, sold $ 130,000 watches with high-relief engravings of the animal.
Compared to previous holiday seasons, the Year of the Ox capsule collections did not attract as much mockery or boycotts from Asian consumers. But the commercialization of the Lunar New Year still raises longstanding questions within the Asian diaspora about co-opting and bleaching ethnic traditions – and whether dominant recognition can bring about significant social changes.
The commercialization of the Lunar New Year – also known as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival – by Western brands began in the early 1990s, when China became an economic powerhouse with an emerging middle class that saw opulence as a status symbol. , said Min Zhou, director of the UCLA Asia-Pacific Center.
“It is part of broader consumerism, commercialization and globalization trends” that unfolded at the time and that were not “exclusive to the Chinese or Chinese New Year,” she said, noting the transformation of other important cultural holidays, such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. Thanks in shopping bonuses.
Today, China is the most important market for sophisticated Western retailers. In 2018, Chinese consumers bought a third of the world’s luxury goods, and the country is on track to become the world’s largest clothing market by the end of the decade. Spending increases during the Lunar New Year: consumers spent $ 149 billion during the week-long holiday in 2019, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. In the United States and the United Kingdom, Lunar New Year luxury product launches increased 75% from 2019 to 2020, according to the retail market intelligence platform Edited.
The aggressive cut of Chinese buyers by American retailers can distort the way non-Asians see Asian Americans by reinforcing the minority myth model, said Chiou-Ling Yeh, author of “Making an American festival: New Year Chinese in San Francisco’s Chinatown “.
The luxury brand marketing and advertising blitz often “confuses Chinese shoppers with Chinese Americans and Asian Americans,” she said, adding that it also reinforces the stereotype that all Asians are successful, wealthy and materialistic. .
Yeh said the purchasing power of the Chinese middle class does not accurately reflect the financial situation of Asians abroad. And the China-centric aesthetics of the Lunar New Year collections – animals of the zodiac as the main motif of design, Chinese celebrities as protagonists of the ads – neglects the many other ethnic groups that celebrate the holiday in Asia and the USA, including Singaporeans, Vietnamese and Koreans.
Misconceptions, she said, can be particularly damaging when anti-Asian hate crimes are on the rise and Asian Americans are facing some of the biggest job losses among all racial groups.
When big brands monetize ethnic traditions, they risk misinterpreting or leveling the cultural practices that make events distinct and emotionally resonant, said historian Jack Tchen, co-founder of the Museum of Chinese in America. While the exchange of gifts is a cherished ritual of the Lunar New Year, an increasing number of luxury capsule collections can erode the purpose of the holiday – which has little to do with purchasing coveted clothing and jewelry.
“The tragedy would be if the products were to replace the real experience of what is the Lunar New Year, which is family and friends getting together, eating together, paying attention to ancestors,” he said. “It’s a time when people can really relax, no matter how much they work or how little money they have.”
If commercial culture goes beyond these “deep traditions”, he said, the seminal Asian festival could come to resemble Christmas: a holiday that has been so completely commercialized that its original religious significance is now largely lost to the masses.
In the past few decades, government agencies have made a greater effort to honor the occasion in culturally sensitive ways. Since 1992, the U.S. Postal Service has ordered three series of 12-year Lunar New Year stamps featuring works of art by Asian American illustrators. The new Year of the Ox stamp is a tribute to the whimsical masks used in traditional dragon and lion dances.
But as awareness of the event grows among non-Asians, ironically it becomes somewhat more difficult for Asian Americans to observe certain traditions. The Lunar New Year, unlike Thanksgiving or Christmas, is not a federal holiday, making it difficult for many families to get together and celebrate. (Recently, a handful of public school districts in the United States have agreed to give students time off.)
In addition, Zhou said, intense pressure to assimilate American culture has caused young Asian Americans to lose touch with some ancient customs, such as worshiping the Gods of Cuisine and composing Spring Festival couplets.
“Family connections are often cut off by immigration, and the second generation gradually forgets about these traditional holidays in their parents’ homeland,” she said. “So, the rituals they choose, like red envelopes, lantern festivals and lion dances, are more symbolic.”
But there are also advantages to the commercialization of the Lunar New Year, Zhou said. This boosted the dominant Asian representation and the general awareness of Asian culture, while also pressing companies to reexamine their prejudices. The online reaction against the racist and insensitive collections of the Lunar New Year, for example, has forced some companies to withdraw their campaigns. On the other hand, commercials that emphasize storytelling about product promotion – such as Nike’s widely praised 2020 ad, portraying the red envelope tug of war among family members – can enrich the public’s understanding of traditions of long date.
Since racial justice protests last summer, companies that profit from ethnic cultures have faced increasing pressure to invest more proactively in these communities, collaborating with local groups, sponsoring cultural events and hiring more diverse workforces.
While the coronavirus pandemic forces Asian American communities to cancel parades, dances and large family gatherings for the second year in a row, grassroots groups across the country design virtual goods and events to raise awareness of Lunar New Year rituals and to support companies in difficulty.
The Asian American Arts Alliance has created a series of interactive digital projects to explore the customs and mythology of the Lunar New Year, including a red envelope exchange program and a tikoy recipe, a steamed rice cake made during Philippine celebrations. Chinese. Pearl River Mart, a Chinese-American specialty products emporium founded in 1971, has assembled gift boxes that include a variety of items such as noise makers to ward off evil spirits and almanacs with homemade tips and health remedies.
Joanne Kwong, the president of Pearl River Mart, said she appreciates the attention that Western brands have devoted to the Lunar New Year as it promotes Asian American representation in advertising and pop culture. But, she said, it is up to Asian-owned companies and organizations to educate the community about the essence and history behind the holiday.
“For Asian children of second or third generation, it becomes more nebulous what the traditions are and how to celebrate what it all means,” she said. “We consider it our job to keep these traditions alive.”