China Bans Nike's LeBron Ad As Offensive to Nation's Dignity
China has banned a Nike TV commercial featuring U.S. basketball star LeBron James in a battle with a cartoon kung fu master, citing "indignant feelings among Chinese viewers."
The decision, posted Monday on the Web site of China's State Administration for Radio, Film and Television, is the latest in a string of high-profile rows over advertising that highlights the cultural and political pitfalls that afflict marketing in China for even the savviest foreign companies.
BANNED IN CHINA
See the Nike TV ad featuring NBA star LeBron James .
The commercial, created by the Tokyo office of ad agency Wieden + Kennedy for audiences in Asia and the U.S., was broadcast on Chinese stations before being pulled last month. It features Mr. James in a videogame setting defeating a kung fu master and a pair of dragons, an important symbol of traditional Chinese culture. The 19-year-old Mr. James, who plays forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers, is one of Nike Inc.'s best-known endorsers.
The ad violates regulations that "all advertisements must uphold national dignity and interest, and respect the motherland's culture," says the Sarft site. The statement doesn't specify why the ad was offensive, and a Sarft representative wasn't available to comment.
Nike's China marketing director, Frank Pan, says the company didn't intend to offend. "In China, there are 1.3 billion people, so some people have different opinions," he says.
"We were encouraging the idea that players can overcome their fear internally ... to improve themselves," he adds. "We believe that this kind of approach is very Asia-relevant."
Nike has been cultivating ties to China since it started manufacturing its shoes there two decades ago, and lately it has been pointing to the region as an area of growth for the company. In the year ended May 31, 53% of Nike's $12.3 billion in annual sales came from outside the U.S. Nike's Asia-Pacific region, which includes China, Japan and others, drove the growth, posting sales of $1.6 billion, up 20% from sales of $1.3 billion the year earlier. In Nike's first quarter ended Aug. 31, the Asia-Pacific region was the fastest-growing sector for the company, posting sales of $406 million, up 17% from $348 million in the year-earlier period.
Users of Chinese bulletin board Netease.com left anonymous messages about the Nike ad, which shows a foreigner -- the NBA's Mr. James -- winning his fight. "All the Chinese images have been defeated in the end, even including China's totem dragon," said one message. "This is hurting China, showing Chinese people are incapable. ... In the ads, flying goddesses and greenbacks are put together, this is tarnishing Chinese culture."
Chinese government officials have responded to such sentiments with increasing forcefulness. On April 30, Sarft imposed new laws limiting importation of foreign historical soap operas and martial-arts programs, and banned the portrayal of egotism and money worship, among other ideas.
Past ads, usually marketing Japanese companies, also have run afoul of political sentiment and were voluntarily removed. In December of last year, Toyota Motor Corp. of Japan had to pull and formally apologize for 30 magazine and newspaper advertisements made by Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi depicting stone lions, a traditional sign of Chinese power, saluting and bowing to a Prado Land Cruiser sport-utility vehicle. A similar fight erupted this fall about an outdoor display made by Publicis's Leo Burnett showing a sculptured dragon that was unable to keep its grip on a pillar coated in Nippon Paint's smooth wood-coating paint.
And this isn't the first time a Nike ad with Mr. James has offended sensibilities in Asia. A campaign in which small posters featuring Mr. James were pasted haphazardly on bus-shelter ad panels in Singapore drew dozens of complaints last month in that tidiness-loving city-state.
耐克广告遭遇中国文化陷阱
耐克公司(Nike Inc.)一则描写美国篮球明星勒布朗?詹姆斯(LeBron James)与一位卡通武林高手较量的广告片在中国遭禁播，原因是这则广告引起了中国观众的强烈不满。
中国国家广播电视总局(State Administration for Radio, Film and Television)昨日在其网站上公布了该决定。此前中国曾发生了一系列引人注目的广告争议问题，表明即便最敏锐的外国公司，也会在中国进行市场推广时落入文化和政治的陷阱。耐克这则广告就是最新的一个佐证。
这则广告由美国广告代理机构Wieden + Kennedy驻东京办事处负责制作，主要针对亚洲和美国观众，此前已在中国的电视台播放，但上月开始遭到禁播。广告讲的是在一个游戏场景中，美国篮球联盟(NBA)克利夫兰骑士队的篮球明星詹姆斯分别打败一位功夫高手以及两条巨龙的故事。龙是中国传统文化中的一个重要形象。
据国家广电总局的网站称，这则广告违反了“广播电视广告应当维护国家尊严和利益，尊重祖国传统文化”的相关规定。这份通知并没有解释该广告为何引起了人们的愤怒。记者未能联系到国家广电总局的有关人士就此置评。
耐克中国区市场总监潘建华(Frank Pan)表示，公司无意冒犯中国人的感情。他说，中国有13亿人口，一些人的想法可能会有所不同。
他补充称，公司是想鼓励年轻人直面内心的恐惧、提高自己。公司认为这种广告创意非常适合亚洲市场。
中国网易(Netease.com)网络论坛上的一些匿名文章就耐克广告发表了评论。“最终包括中国龙在内的所有中国形象都被打败了”，有文章这样写道，“这是在辱华，表明中国人无能......广告还把飞天仙女和美元放在一起，这是在玷污中国文化。”
中国经济高速增长，加上中国正在筹备2008年奥运会，这些可能激发了中国人的爱国热情。“爱国主义在中国非常重要，特别是对中国年轻人而言。“WPP Group PLC旗下广告代理机构J. Walter Thompson的北亚地区董事总经理Tom Doctoroff说，“个人主义在中国受到压制。年轻人获取成功的途径有限－－实际上赚到钱就是成功了。因此中国人为了获得个人自豪感，他们就要借助爱国主义的力量。”
中国政府对这些敏感广告或影视的抵制力度不断加大。4月30日，国家广电总局颁布新规定，限制境外历史肥皂剧、武打题材电视剧的引入，且不允许有个人主义和金钱崇拜等内容出现。
以前其他一些广告也曾遭遇到了政治敏感性问题，其中多数是一些为日本公司做的广告，这些广告后来都被自动撤换下来。去年12月份，日本丰田汽车(Toyota Motor Corp.)被迫撤下了公司的一则广告，并向中国公众正式道歉。该广告在30多家杂志和报纸上刊登，由Publicis Groupe SA旗下盛世(Saatchi & Saatchi PLC)制作。广告上是两只石狮向霸道陆地巡洋舰(Prado Land Cruiser)运动型多用途车敬礼并鞠躬的画面。而石狮在中国的传统上是权利的象征。今年秋天Publicis Groupe旗下广告公司李奥贝纳(Leo Burnett)制作的一则户外广告也遇到了同样的问题，广告中一只盘龙从廊柱上滑落，以突出立邦漆(Nippon Paint Co.)的木器清漆的光滑度
