Why China’s ‘Chunwan’ Lunar New Year TV show matters to luxury brands
- Celebrity-packed variety gala, seen by 1.13 billion people worldwide this year, offers firms unrivalled exposure to their products
- Posts on host Li Sisi’s bright lipstick go viral as Strathberry bag used by comedian Ma Li in a skit rapidly sells out
If you are looking for a crash course on “China’s most popular stars of the year”, then play the re-run of the television show Chunwan on a loop.
The annual gala produced by CCTV on the eve of the Lunar New Year festival features celebrities who are regarded not only as the creme-de-la-creme of the nation’s show business royalty, but also people with images that are the most positive and – for lack of a better phrase – “politically correct”.
The 2019 edition of Chunwan, which aired on February 4, attracted a record-breaking viewership of more than 1.13 billion – both in China and abroad.
Just to put things in perspective, the American Super Bowl final – the National Football League’s annual championship game – which aired on February 5, attracted 98.2 million viewers while NBC’s broadcast of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opening ceremony was seen by 28.3 million viewers.
There’s no doubt that luxury brands rely on the celebrity participants to maximise their exposure on one of the world’s biggest televised events.
Apart from industry veterans such as Jackie Chan, Richie Jen and Huang Xiaoming, the roster for the 2019 Chunwan featured a number of millennial idols.
TFBoys – the popular boy band featuring Karry Wang, Roy Wang and Jackson Yee took part in Chunwan for the fourth year in a row. Dilraba Dilmurat, Zhou Dongyu, Angelababy Yeung also made appearances during the television gala.