Media: Lianhe Zaobao
During Mother's Day and Father's Day, Jade Group, a Cantonese cuisine restaurant in Singapore, encouraged parents to say to their children, "生嚿叉燒好過生你" (translation: "It would be better to give birth to a piece of roasted pork/ char siu than to give birth to you") in exchange for a free plate of char siu. This caused a significant uproar, eliciting polarized reactions from netizens.
Putting aside personal feelings, from a purely advertising and promotional copywriting perspective, this technique is in poor taste, lacks cultural sensitivity, and is considered low-class.
Firstly, the promotional wording is inappropriate. It uses a traditionally authoritarian and harsh phrase to insult children as useless, which is inherently offensive. This perpetuates an outdated and toxic parenting style, serving as a poor example for contemporary education without any comedic value.
Secondly, what is the essence of advertising and promotional activities? Ideally, it should foster an emotional connection that drives purchasing behavior. What kind of emotions does this char siu promotion evoke? It brings back memories of being scolded for not meeting academic expectations, or not contributing to the family, recalling scenes of physical punishment with sticks or chairs. It evokes the pain of children being blamed during parental divorce and being abandoned to relatives or orphanages. Exaggerated? Perhaps, but according to social welfare friends, while Singapore is relatively fortunate with lower rates of severe child abuse and abandonment compared to global standards, in recent decades, many new immigrants from Guangdong backgrounds (such as Hong Kong, Macau, and Mainland China) have experienced such traumas. These immigrants are also a significant customer base for the Jade Group (don't believe it? Check the backgrounds of commenters in the "Complaint Singapore" group). This incident is a vivid example of the importance of cultural sensitivity in promotions.
"Just a joke, no harm done"?
Another group of netizens argues that it's just a joke and shouldn't be taken seriously in this modern age. The group's response to media inquiries was: "...we understand that humor is subjective, and we regret that this promotional copy did not resonate as intended and caused discomfort to some customers." This highlights the issue of subjectivity and resonance, showcasing a lack of empathy, limited awareness, and low humor standards among some citizens, who dismiss those who don't accept such jokes as "old-fashioned" or "overly sensitive." This kind of response is regrettable. Such situations are common in Singapore and many Asian regions: mocking accents, ridiculing people from perceived lower-status countries, or personal attacks and insults masquerading as jokes without respect. When these jokes offend, they are brushed off with "it's just a joke, don't take it seriously," masking poor humor with shamelessness.
While netizens can be overlooked, the group's regretful response without retracting the promotion further reveals a lack of empathy, poor public relations skills, and self-centeredness.
"Now widely known at a low cost"
Indeed, some say, "bad publicity is still publicity." This is quite true in the entertainment industry, but for other industries, a self-made PR disaster and the resulting media exposure may not bring long-term benefits. Perhaps in the short term, more customers will be drawn in for a free char siu meal, but will this group of customers return long-term? Will customers attracted by small perks be profitable? When damaging the brand image among the target customer base, causing emotional harm, will the most profitable large-scale celebrations, banquets, reunions, and association events decrease? Judging from public opinion, many Cantonese and Hong Kong groups have already blacklisted Jade Group. In Singapore, there are increasing options for more authentic Hong Kong-style char siu in more comfortable environments.
Having worked in several local media organizations and creative advertising agencies, including multinational leaders and local firms, I've found that compared to overseas, local advertising places less emphasis on cultural creativity, emotional connections, aesthetic value, and story depth. Instead, the most common methods are awkward jingles and rap songs, with the most effective strategies relying on discounts to attract customers. Industry reasons (or excuses?) include "many political, economic, religious, and racial red lines limiting creativity," "government and related public institutions being the main clients, resulting in conservative approaches," and "local creative talent being stifled or driven away by rigid education systems, leaving reliance on foreign labor." Indeed, with limited media and a small market, coupled with underdeveloped culture, the lack of competition among creators and mutual learning among companies means that deep, empathetic, culturally sensitive creativity is hard to cultivate. The path to developing taste after achieving wealth is still long.
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