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We update you on the most essential news from Asia in tech, media, and business—the things you need to know that you probably haven’t heard in Western media.
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Mr. Bean Impersonator Becomes Chinese Celebrity During Lockdown 🕶
Nigel Dixon, a 52-year-old British impersonator of the comedic character Mr. Bean, has suddenly become a viral sensation in China. Dixon was visiting friends in Wuhan a few months ago and ended up stranded in the city for the entire period of lockdown, from January 5 to May 29. He started posting short funny educational videos of his life in lockdown and ended up getting nearly 400 Million followers across Chinese social media.
What’s fascinating to me is the scale of his fandom. For comparison, Cristiano Ronaldo is the most followed person on Instagram and his account has 226 Million followers. So if a Mr. Bean impersonator can get 400 Million followers (n.b. I saw several news publications mention this number but couldn’t officially verify it myself), it’s mind blowing. And for reference, the official Mr. Bean account has 6.8 Million followers on Instagram.
This idea of cultural arbitrage - taking your brand from one country and bringing it to another, can be pretty lucrative. But THE most lucrative place to bring your brand from a scale perspective is China.
Jay Chou’s Viral Mojito Song, A Lesson in Chinese Internet Culture 🍹
On June 12, Chinese pop star Jay Chou released his new single “Mojito” on the streaming platform QQ Music. The company’s servers collapsed due to heavy traffic from people trying to listen to the song and digital sales reached $1.4 Million in just a few hours. The song is about the drink, the Mojito, but the music video takes place in Cuba as we can see Jay Chou driving around the country in classic cars. People have been imitating the music video across the Chinese internet, including the Hainan police force, who created a parody of the song with an anti-drug message that went viral.
What’s interesting is the knock-on cultural and economic effects of this music. After the song’s release, tons of articles were written in Chinese media about Mojito culture. Bars and restaurants around the country started offering Mojito drink specials, and sales of the drink went up. And it’s reported that online search traffic for the word “Cuba” and associated keywords went up 1,113% after the song was released.
I don’t know if Cuba’s tourism board actually knows Jay Chou, but they probably should be paying or at least thanking him. The Cuban Embassy to China actually gave a shoutout to Jay Chou on social media. In today’s world, songs become memes that become actual economic forces.
Pokémon Smile, A Game Encouraging Good Behaviour 👼
The latest mobile game in the Pokémon series is Pokémon Smile, an app created to gamify the process of brushing your teeth. To play Pokémon Smile, your goal is to rescue captured Pokémon by properly brushing your teeth. The game is aimed at kids and uses augmented reality to measure how well kids are brushing their teeth. As a society, we are becoming more familiar with the different ways that games can positively influence behaviour.
Pokémon is the world’s highest grossing media franchise. The Pokémon Smile app is free on both iOS and Android, and is also translated into Chinese. That’s particularly notable because a previous game/worldwide blockbuster Pokémon Go was actually banned in China and deemed a ‘social risk’. From a business perspective, I’m sure The Pokémon Company is doing their very best to make sure they can have different ways to re-enter the Chinese market.
Update #12 - Mr. Bean, Mojito, and Pokémon Smile