I got these “throat lozenges” (more like mints) for free on the street of some city I visited this year on business. I liked the package, so I kept it. I finally got a scanner as an early Christmas present this past weekend. (Thanks, mom and dad!) Now I can throw it away. (The package, not the scanner.)
P.S. Yes, having a scanner means Chinese Calvin & Hobbes scans, and many, many other things, coming soon……
We all know that that McDonalds has marketing masters guiding the conquest of every last prime urban location on the globe. Sometimes seeing the results of their efforts is kind of scary though.
The two pictures above (click for the full images) were taken at separate kindergartens in Shanghai. And you can bet the phenomenon is more widespread here in China than just two kindergartens. I’ve seen a few other companies pull the same kind of advertising stunts in kindergartens, …
Last month I was in Yinchuan on business. I normally hate watching TV in China, but when I’m on a business trip, bored in a hotel at night, I’ll often turn the TV on. It was on one such instance that I happened to see a commercial which really disturbed me.
The beginning of the commercial had a man and a woman doing a soap opera-esque scene. I don’t remember it too clearly, because I wasn’t paying close attention at …
I seem to remember some hype a while back about a company that wanted to pay people for surfing the internet. It seems to have faded into obscurity since then. What I never expected is that now a Chinese company seems to be trying something similar!
The Western media likes to write stories about how rich a very small portion of China’s population is becoming. Here’s further evidence of the trend in the form of an outrageous advertisement.
Here are some funny but real products I have found (and subsequently purchased) in the PRC. Click on the image for a fuller image, sometimes including additional angles.
He’s Dr. Bang. That says it all, and leads us to…
Look at how thrilled this guy is. “I’m gonna get laid!” He’s beaming. Some sailor.
I think this cup is for drinking water. Maybe.
Baopi is a Chinese word that means “foreskin.” You see the Chinese characters in the picture here. I am most familiar with the Chinese word in the context of foreigners’ propensity to mix it up with the word pibao (same characters), which means wallet or purse (literally, “leather bag”).
I was pretty surprised, then, to see these words jumping out at me from an ad on the Shanghai subway. Make sure to click on the picture to see the entire …
John has lived in China for
11.5
years. He is a linguist focused on SLA and tech.
All Posts