Apparently it was supposed to be released last year during the melamine debacle, but delayed for whatever reason until now (right before Christmas season?). Basically the ad, which is funded and created by the Chinese government (can you say propaganda?), is trying to show that despite these items (Nike shoes, electronic items, clothes) being "Made in China," they are designed by "the world." This ad has appeared globally, and in the U.S. specifically, on CNN.
The thing that this ad fails to do is address the crux of the problem that the "western" world sees in products made in China, which is that they are made in China. Regardless of who designed it with what technology from where, the end product is still made in China.
Perhaps think of it like a recipe. I'm not sure this is the best metaphor, but I'll use it anyways. A recipe is designed, founded, usually by one chef. People then go on and buy that recipe (from a book, or from some collection, etc.), or perhaps simply ask for the recipe from them for free. While the recipe is the same, and for the most part, the end product will be the same, each person that makes that recipe ends with a slightly, and sometimes greatly different food at the end. It could be because they substituted dark meat for white meat, or because they chose a cheaper version of that flour than the brand-name one in the name of cost-cutting. For whatever reason, it most likely will come out different than the original chefs'.
So does it matter whose recipe it is? In a way, it really doesn't matter since the ending taste of the recipe is who makes it.
Products made in China are products made by cheap labor, which inherently doesn't give the workers a good incentive to do their job well, and after all that's what Communism promotes. Work hard or slack-off, you pretty much get the same at the end of the day. Even if you take out the notion of Communism, the fact that labor is cheap gives a worker little incentive to work hard. Think of your first few jobs, and when you were given a raise, did you feel like you wanted to stay at that job, work harder, perhaps attain another raise? I don't know about you, but that was my mentality. Of course there are a plethora of other reasons why you may or may not choose to work hard, but compensation is one of them.
Also, an interesting point which I saw in the comments about this ad. That is, it indirectly, sort-of, states the lack of ingenuity and creativity coming out of China. It might be a stretch, but I can sort of agree with their point here.
When I saw this ad the only thing I could think is how it highlights China’s lack of innovation, creativity, and design.Lastly, this ad fails to recognize that for the majority of Americans, especially in a recession, we have no concern over where the product was made- as long as it is cheap. And it's certainly understandable. But for those who go out of their way to avoid China products (especially/mainly food products), it is unlikely that this advertisement will "turn on the light bulb" in their brain.
In news related to Taiwan, Chinese students attacked a Taiwanese study abroad student in South Korea for displaying the Taiwan (R.O.C.) flag. If you've been keeping up with related Taiwan news over the past couple years, you will know that this is not an isolated incident. If this makes you mad, irritated, angry, frustrated, then you should ask yourself why their wasn't a larger uproar when Ma Ying-jeou basically did the same thing when Chen Yunlin came from China and the Taiwan (R.O.C.) flag was barred from being displayed in the streets of Taipei. Talk Taiwan writes about this in his recent post, with images and video of Taiwanese who displayed the Taiwan (R.O.C.) flag, being basically assaulted and attacked as well. Don't be fooled, Ma Ying-jeou may talk the Taiwanese talk, but he certainly isn't making the case for walking the walk.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment