The BBC report used the term "national sentiment", which is a relatively sinister accusation.
This accusation stems from the different cultural understandings of "national sentiment" between China and foreign countries. Obviously, the mainland is relatively positive, but after the West experienced the second and third waves of world wars in Germany, the term gradually became associated with some specific negative impressions.
Actually, in addition to this word, there are many words that have different understandings at home and abroad. One is more positive and the other is more negative. The writer deliberately created this information gap - after all, this is the BBC, and there is always yin and yang.
The current problem is that with the influence of the BBC, it has still created some public opinion, and the perfect "Shi Yiyi" image of the other director has had some impact.
At the beginning of January 2013, Fang Yi’s biggest brother Mercedes-AMG held a celebration party in China: to celebrate the monthly sales of AMG coupes in China exceeding 1,000.
When this model was first launched, the expectations were not good. As a compact high-performance car, it is simply a high-end small steel cannon. Its application scope is relatively narrow and is not suitable for the mainland market:
The rear space is narrow, and there are certain requirements for road conditions. The front face looks like a regular C and it is difficult to show off, and the price/performance ratio is extremely low...
However, the sales figures are completely disappointing. After the release of "Zodiac", the majority of young middle-class people were fascinated by Professor Guan's new "suited thug" character. The trident logo seemed like an external emanator of male hormones, or a certain
The abstraction of a totem of one long and two short plants... pushed this car to the top of the sales list.
The key is that most women are fully aware that AMG is expensive and has low cost performance - this is just proof of financial strength.
This is not the first time that a certain model of car has become a hit because of a star or a plot.
The most recent case is in the TV series "Snail House". The middle-aged man Song Siming took the little girl Haizao on a business trip. The innocent little girl commented that the Land Rover was ugly, tall and inconvenient to get in and out of.
Song Siming gave birth to the “Land Rover Bible”:
"Every man who drives a car hopes to own a Land Rover. After a man has been stuck in the city for a long time, he hopes to roam freely on the grassland like a wild horse, with his mane flying in the wind. And a Land Rover is a man's leg, in the air
The blowing wind. A man must have a good car and a few close friends in his life...otherwise he will be a failure in his life."
The TV series "Dwelling" had a huge influence that year, and even Land Rover cars climbed to the top of the sales list. Before that, not many Chinese people knew about this brand.
Fang Yi has such an effect. It is not an exaggeration to say that he drives a market by himself.
Right now, behind the stage where Fang Yi was standing, a large LED screen was playing a popular commercial he shot: AMG was at the end of the road, following the flow and keeping a constant speed. Suddenly, Fang Yi received a call from his girlfriend. He stepped on the accelerator, and AMG quickly overtook him.
In a group of luxury business cars, the senior passengers in the car could only look at the young Fang Yi and sigh.
When he got out of the car, he didn't forget to pick up a bouquet of flowers and button up his suit.
Then the advertisement slogan floated out, "Draw a clear line with all mediocre products."
——This advertisement has been shown many times, and it is still very enjoyable to play now. The reporters in the audience watched it carefully, as if they were waking up from a dream.
One or two shills came up first, and the question was very common: "How does the group define the best-selling of AMG? Currently, it is not only hot-selling in mainland China, but also in Japan, South Korea, and even Malaysia and Singapore. Does this mean that...
amg has proven that it can be accepted by Asians and has pioneered the market..."
The question was answered by a mainland executive from Mercedes-Benz: "The glory of German industry is related to the glory of cars. The world's first car was invented by Mr. Karl Benz in 1886. For more than a hundred years, we have always insisted...
…”
The topic was introduced to the main protagonist Fang Yi:
“How much role does Hugo’s spokesperson play in popularizing public awareness?”
It was a middle-aged white German man who said angrily:
"Mercedes-Benz does not need to popularize public awareness. We are the representative of cars and luxury cars..."
Fang Yi next to him raised his eyebrows. What he said so far was a bit crazy, but not too outrageous.
When the German started talking about Fang Yi, his tone began to be gentle, and he poured out a long list of exaggerated words: "Born with extraordinary talents, noble and graceful, he will also keep a low speed like other ordinary horses, temporarily in the same wilderness,
But when he wants to run, you immediately notice the difference in him..."
"Ultimately," the German raised an index finger, "we want a real genius, a truly different person, who won't look so embarrassed when he wins the championship... and Fang Yi is like this.
A man who works effortlessly."
——I said the above three times, once each in German, Chinese and English.
The atmosphere was very lively, and there was no doubt about this evaluation at the scene. The reporters were more focused on who was serving the food. Fang Yi kept winning, and Mercedes-Benz was also winning. They could only keep applauding, and no one wanted to fight against the odds.
After passing the stage of introducing achievements and looking forward to the future, someone finally seized the opportunity:
"First of all, I would like to congratulate Director Fang for his cooperation with Mercedes-Benz, as well as the success of "Zodiac", which has had such a huge impact and ranked first in domestic box office history."
"I heard that "Twelve Zodiac Signs" will get the key to postpone the movie, and it will be released at least until mid-February. In this way, there is full hope of earning 17.8 billion. This is probably a single market that will be difficult to break in a few years.
Lost records..."
"However, "Zodiac" will also be released in markets other than mainland China, and there are currently some disputes over the characters in the movie. Will this affect the brand reputation of Mercedes-Benz, especially since it is a German brand..."
What is a German brand?
It is a brand of conservative old white men.
Although Fang Yi is a global spokesperson, Mercedes-Benz is not stupid enough to move his advertising to Europe. As a global company, it is human nature for Mercedes-Benz to please the major markets in order to make money.
Don't say that Fang Yi has no moral virtue, but a far-fetched secret method. Even if he is really virtuous, as long as he makes enough money for Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz will find a way to suppress this matter and everyone will make money together.
As for the feelings of the German people, if they are hurt, they are hurt.
——But, to put it bluntly, it doesn’t look good and won’t make it to the stage.
The celebration ended in a slightly awkward atmosphere.
Two days later, after Fang Yi shot the cover of the mainland version of "VOGUE" magazine, a similar situation occurred again.
"VOGUE" is a fashion magazine. Its status in the industry seems to be quite high, but in fact it is indeed high: in the early days of its establishment, it was approved by Zongju and was jointly published with Central Pictorial.
You can imagine that in the year when such foreign gadgets were introduced, there might have been some ideological struggles.
Being on the cover of a magazine alone is a fashion honor worth bragging about. As of the beginning of 2013, a total of nine actresses have succeeded, mainly those born in the 1970s.
There are only two people born in the 1980s, one is Wang Jiazhi, who may have relied on the limelight of Li An's movies; the other is Liu Tianxian, relying on the limelight of Fang Yi, that year "Seventeen Again" won the annual box office championship.