Advertising of the Beauty

Industry in China
How Foreign Beauty Advertising Affects Chinese Culture and
Society

Introduction

Since China’s opening in 1978, it has lured investment from foreign

companies that hope to find bountiful opportunities by appealing to China’s

1.3 billion consumers. Companies of all types have entered, yet few have

found success. One industry that has highly benefited from China’s opening

up policy is the beauty industry. With increasing disposable income among

female Chinese consumers and a greater demand for beauty products, the

beauty industry in China has welcomed many foreign firms with open arms.

The mass entrance of foreign beauty companies has a huge

significance as pertaining to Chinese culture and society. With foreign beauty

companies came foreign beauty advertising, portraying Western models,

blonde-haired and blue-eyed, flaunting Western goods and values, with little

attention paid to Chinese traditions and ideas on ‘beauty’. Foreign beauty

advertising has drastically changed the concept of beauty from a preference

towards traditional Chinese beauty to a preference of ‘foreign beauty’.

Foreign advertising sends the message that natural Chinese features are

inferior to Western ideas of beauty. Some believe that mass foreign

advertising has created a psychological inferiority complex in the younger

female Chinese population. Rather than accepting themselves as Chinese

and embracing their natural beauty, young women are seeking medical

treatments and beauty enhancements to make themselves appear more

foreign, requiring them to be slim, tall, white skinned, have rounder eyes, a

high, narrow nose and wider lips. This behavior is unhealthy and may have

lasting effects on Chinese culture and society.

Background
Looking back on history, we see that there is a recurring theme of

beauty if China – a porcelain, oval face; thin, long eyebrows; long eyes with

slightly up-curved corners; and a small, rosy mouth. In fact, beautiful Chinese

women were often compared to peach blossoms. Beauty in ancient China

could also be defined by a woman’s obedience to commonly held virtues.

“Women’s appearance, along with their impeccable morality, proper speech,

and diligent housework, were compulsory criteria of good women. In

addition, a woman should be obedient to her father before marriage, to her

husband after marriage and to her son after her husband’s death” (Chinese

Perspectives). This criterion was highly influenced by Confucius-thought.

A BOVE , F ROM L EFT : T HE TRADITIONAL C HINESE BEAUTY ; Z HOU X UAN , THE M ARILYN M ONROE OF 1930
S HANGHAI , IS AN EXAMPLE OF TRADITIONAL BEAUTY IN THEN MID - TWENTIETH CENTURY ; T HIS VINTAGE AD
FEATURES A WOMAN WITH PORCELAIN SKIN HOLDING THE K U L IN BRAND FACIAL C REAM AND READS “G IFT OF
Q UALITY AND B EAUTY ”.

As evident in the last image above, up until China’s opening, it was quite

typical that the basic ad for any beauty or fashion product would feature a

woman of traditional beauty holding the product. While it may seem

repetitious, this style was regarded as art. This was a result of government

regulations on advertising, deeming it a Capitalistic evil.

With the entry of foreign beauty companies, new forms of

advertisement became more prevalent. By the time of China’s opening,

foreign beauty companies were far more developed in the advertising

industry than Chinese companies. In fact, a year after China’s opening,

advertising was officially reinstated and the emergence and foundation stage

of the advertising industry in China began (Hu). During this foundation stage,

from 1979-89, Chinese advertising scholars began to systematically

introduce Western advertising concepts to promote "modern advertising”, an

antithesis of "traditional advertising." Table I below explains the differences

between modern and traditional advertising as argued by Chinese

advertising scholars (Gao).

Traditional Advertising Modern Advertising

Centered around production and was
employed to disseminate product
information and promote sales
Based on small-scale production, it
functioned only as a subsidiary
business tool and tended to be blind
and impulsive
Considered an art of painting
Only offered services such as media
booking and advertising production
and operated on the principle of
"advertise for whomever pays"
S OURCE : G AO , Z HIHONG (S EE BIBLIOGRAPHY )
Centered around the consumer and
tailored production and marketing to
consumer psychology
Based on large-scale socialized
production in a commodity economy,
it rose to the level of scientific
decisions and became an integral part
of enterprise management system
Considered a comprehensive science
Emphasized planning and creativity
and provided full services to the client

This shift in advertising style after China’s opening correlates to a shift in

societal thought. To a large degree, advertising is a reflection of society and

has an influence on future societal behavior. While pulling in Western

advertising styles, Chinese advertisers also pulled in Western messages and

ideas on life and consumerism.

Looking closer at the beauty industry in China, it is evident that some

large Chinese beauty companies, such as DaBao, still use the traditional

image of Chinese beauty in ads. Foreign entrance has had little influence on

their beauty philosophy. However, this may change in the near future, as
 large international corporations have begun buying

A BOVE : D A B AO , A HOUSEHOLD NAME IN C HINA , STILL USES TRADITIONAL BEAUTY

up Chinese beauty

companies left and right. For example, Johnson &

Johnson acquired DaBao a few months ago, after

entering a bidding war with Avon and Unilever (Yu).

The race to buy up Chinese beauty brands that

understand Chinese consumers is on. Companies like DaBao will continue to

be gobbled up by multinational brands, hoping to sink into the psyches of

existing Chinese consumers.

International and domestic companies alike have reason to quarrel.

According to a new Kline & Company market study, China is now the third-

largest market for cosmetics and toiletries, next to Japan and the United

States. Sales are projected to rise by more than 10% a year to 2010,

expanding the market to $17 billion. With such attractive grown rates,

companies have plenty of reasons to heavily compete. Edward Wang,

manager of China Beauty at The NPD Group, confirms that:

“The beauty industry in China is an emerging market and I expect to

see continued growth in the coming year, with skincare products at the

forefront. We are seeing more advertisements in China both in

magazines and on television for premium-priced anti-aging products.

These ads play an important role in educating women about skincare

usage in China (Hilsenrath).”

 But exactly how much influence do these foreign beauty companies

and their advertising have on Chinese consumers? In a 2005 article in

Fortune Magazine entitled “Battling for the Face of China”, author Sheridan

Prasso argued that the juxtaposition in China’s beauty industry between

modernity and tradition:

“is a raging battle among global beauty giants vying to win the face of

Chinese women. There's French giant L'Oréal pitted against Japan's

Shiseido, both of which are being challenged by U.S. leader Estée

Lauder and a handful of Chinese companies that draw upon the desire

for traditional skin beautifiers.”

In essence, the beauty battle in China today is a battle of balance between

the old and the new. But it seems that the new is winning and replacing the

traditions. Although beauty products had been popular in China’s history,

wearing them became taboo during Mao’s reign, as it undermined the

Communist philosophy of standardization among people. Beauty products

were reintroduced during Deng Xiaoping’s time in office. But even now,

wearing makeup to appear younger can actually cause a Chinese woman to

‘lose face’ in some parts of China, as everyone is expected to obey their

position in society. As the Chinese respect the wisdom of old age, wrinkles

included, wearing beauty products to cover this ‘wisdom’ could be looked

down on (Alon).

However, times are changing, especially in urban China. After the

country opened to foreign influence, women began expressing themselves

more outwardly, using cosmetics. To take advantage of this, one of the first

beauty manufacturers to enter China was Procter & Gamble in 1988 with

their line Oil of Ulan, known today as Olay. Today, even Olay’s skin whiteners

outsell Chinese brands. This is astounding, because whiteners are based on

the traditional preference for fairness. How could a foreigner outsell the

locals on such a traditional concept? Advertising.

China’s advertising industry is booming. According to CR-Nielsen,

Nielsen's China joint venture on research of China's Internet market, online

advertising spending is expected to increase 30-40% in 2009. Traditional

media is also on the rise in China, but at a slower rate. At the CCTV prime

time advertising auction for 2009, sales hit a record high of $1.36 billion, a

15% increase from last year (Online). Let’s take a look at some of ads from

2008.
A BOVE , F ROM T OP L EFT : V ARIOUS FOREIGN BRANDS MARKET WHITENING CREAMS IN A SIAN COUNTRIES .
T HESE ADS FEATURE PALE C AUCASIAN MODELS : D IOR S NOW ; E STEE L AUDER C YBER W HITE EX; L ANCOME
B LANC E XPERT ; P OND ’ S W HITE B EAUTY .
All of the previous ads for whitening creams were found in popular Chinese

magazines. Stressing the importance of fairness, they use phrases like

“snow”, “cyber white”, “blanc”, and “white beauty”. Products that promise to

help consumers improve themselves are to be expected. However, the

underlying message of ‘change’ in order to be beautiful is a troubling

concept. This message sent out by the beauty industry can be found

everywhere, in every country and almost every city. However, the effect that

it is having on Chinese and other Asian consumers is much more horrendous

than in the U.S. or other developed areas. As Indian graphic designer Nikki

Dugal expressed: “we still have this colonial hang-up that white is better,

white is wealth, white is someone rich enough to never toil in the sun (Wax)."

While whitening rooted in colonialism is unfortunate, this is not where

the beauty alterations end. For many Chinese, beauty is seen as an

investment in the future, as it often allows women to get better jobs or find

wealthy husbands. Young girls in their early 20’s are increasingly interested

in getting cosmetic surgeries to obtain ‘foreign’ beauty. Some of the most

popular surgeries include creasing one’s eyelids, narrowing of the nose,

breast implants, liposuction, and even leg-lengthening (Jesús).

 In China, the popularity of change for beauty resulted in the first

annual Miss Artificial Beauty pageant in 2003. The artificial beauty pageant

only allows entrants that have had extensive cosmetic surgery. The

philosophy is that all ‘ugly’ women can become beautiful with the wonders of

‘man-made beauty’. Cosmetic surgeons, proud of their works of art, are

proud sponsors and judges of the pageant. The existence of this pageant is

evidence that China has come a long way in the past few decades. In 1993,

Beijing University students refused ever to enter a beauty contest; they were

“meaningless western culture” and contestants lacked “self-respect and

spiritual pursuits” (Jesús).

In light of the circumstances, a recent campaign by Olay seems to be

trying to combat the popular message of change that other advertisers are

communicating.

A BOVE , FROM LEFT : C HINESE O LAY ADS , WHICH READ : “F ROM MAKING YOURSELF BECOME MORE BEAUTIFUL
TO MAKING YOUR WISDOM BECOME MORE BEAUTIFUL ”; “F ROM BEAUTY THAT COMES FROM TOUCHING UP TO
BEAUTY THAT COMES FROM THE SKIN ”; “F ROM BELIEVING IN DESTINY TO BELIEVING IN YOURSELF ”.
The ads above focus on self-improvement based on wisdom, one’s natural

skin, and confidence. However, if we look closer, we’ll see that all of the ads

are promoting Western values. In the first ad, the Chinese woman is

whitening her skin while reading about French, one of the well-known

Romance languages. The cultural assumption is that learning French, a

Western language, will make you wiser. In the second ad, a Chinese woman

in heavy makeup is overshadowed by a Caucasian model that seems to be

bare of cosmetics. The ad implies that the Chinese woman should take cues

from the Westerner. The last ad discusses believing in yourself rather than

destiny. Her palm is marked with her life, heart, and sun lines, as dictated by

chiromancy, or palm-reading. Palm-reading roots back to India and Roma, but

came to China around 3,000B.C. In any case, many Chinese believe that

destiny and luck play large roles in a person’s success. Thus, this ad has

inadvertently taken a hit at Chinese cultural norms in preference for the

selfish, Western ideals that come with self-esteem. Furthermore, the focus on

the self in this ad undermines the group-orientated mindset that is strongly

held in China.

Data Analysis

It is clear that the beauty industry has benefited from China’s opening

up policy. While many smaller corporations could not weather the storm,

many large multinational companies have found success. These companies,

including Olay, Lancome, Estee Lauder, and Pond’s, have survived based on
one of their shared core competencies – a large advertising budget and

creative advertisers who use the money efficiently. It is evident that these

companies have a large influence in the market, as they are among the top-

selling brands in China. The issue, however, lies in their inability to

communicate messages that agree with the once widely-held ideas of

natural Chinese beauty. This lack of cultural integrity on part of multinational

advertisers has had a detrimental impact on young Chinese girls. Cosmetic

surgeries, even to the extent of leg-lengthening, have become

commonplace, accepted, and encouraged.

Conclusion

In general, international marketers must take all aspects of a brand

into considerations when choosing to market abroad, including the price,

distribution, product features, and promotions as specific to the country in

which they want to enter. In a lot of cases, beauty manufacturers are able to

make good choices on pricing and distribution models. Product features can

be a little more difficult to figure out, as consumers have varying needs

across countries. However, promotion is arguably the most difficult aspect of

the brand to master while abroad. Marketers must understand a country’s

language, symbols, and cultural assumptions.

In this case, it is apparent that upon first entering China, foreign

beauty advertisers, with a lack of knowledge on the cultural ideas being

Chinese beauty, continued to persevere with advertising that practically

mimicked the Western versions of ads for similar products. Even today, in the
age of information overload and with a wide-spread understanding of the

need to be culturally-sensitive, advertisers within the beauty industry

continue to advertise using Western views and values.

A lot of Asian societies have already been Westernized to a large

extent as a result of colonization. Now, with the opening of China, foreign

companies have revived hopes of profiting at the expense of the Chinese

consumers. With little regard to cultural norms, advertisers push products

that Chinese women have traditionally had little use for. The underlying

message is that ‘foreign’ beauty trumps Chinese beauty. This rejection of

natural beauty in preference for ‘foreign’ beauty has resulted in shifts in

cultural and societal values among the younger Chinese generations, as well

as the creation of a psychological inferiority complex in the younger female

population. Rather than accepting themselves as Chinese and embracing

their natural beauty, young women seek to change themselves to conform to

international beauty standards. Refutation of one’s natural self is an

unhealthy behavior. As this type of behavior is occurring on a mass scale in

China, it could have a negative effect on Chinese society and culture, as well

as a lasting impression on future generations.

If anything is to be done to improve the situation, foreign beauty

advertisers should be more critical of the messages they are communicating

to young women in China, paying closer attention to the cultural and societal

rifts that could be caused.

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