It wouldn’t be my blog if I didn’t talk about the branding of nations.

This year’s Olympics were touted as China’s “coming out party.” Here they are, showing the world what they can do — showing the scale, precision, technology, tradition, coordination, planning, and slick execution of a massive event that took about 8 years, and $10 Billion to assemble.

Firstly, it was impressive. The Chinese showed they can do pretty much anything in grand style. That’s hardly up for debate. But at what cost? Ah, there’s the rub. The Olympics were peppered with scandals, and it seemed that China, and more specifically the Chinese government, was at the center of it all. The successes and the scandals each have an effect on the Chinese brand, and its perception in this, our consumer world.

Before the Olympics even got started there were two points of interest poking holes in the Chinese brand and reputation: Pollution and Tibet. Athletes and tourists alike were wondering how polluted China actually is. Was it all exaggerated or does Beijing make Manchester in the early 1800s look like the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Considering that all construction was halted two weeks before the Games, the scene wasn’t too ridiculously dusty, but we did catch more than a single smokey hazy shot of Beijing through the windows of Bob Costas’ set. A few marathon runners opted out of that event in favour of a shorter milage run. It didn’t become a story during the Games, but it lingers. And as for Tibet, mum was the word. The whole world is aware of this issue, but during these two weeks, no one was allowed to talk about it — not world leaders, not athletes, not visiting foreign nationals, and certainly not Chinese citizens. Anyone who was even suspected of supporting any Free Tibet actions was locked up, held, deported, or worse. Rocketboom interviewed a few of the less-than-active activists who spent some time in a Chinese lock-up.

Since most foreigners had never been to China, the international media couldn’t exact comment on how the city of Beijing looked before all that construction. But it didn’t take long for photos to emerge of how the Chinese displaced millions of their own people to keep up the appearance of a tidy capital. In fact, some rather slummy neighborhoods were simply walled off from public view rather than renovated or repaired.

After all, they did invent fireworks, right?

The world watched the opening ceremonies in amazement. The choreography and coordination was second-to-none, and the ability to assemble and rehearse so many highly skilled musicians, acrobats, and martial artists is commendable. But then stories began to emerge of how those same performers were actually locked up in military-style camps for the better part of year, forced to live and train in conditions more often associated with POWs rather than touring dance companies. But the ultimate let-down came a day or two later when it came to light that the adorable little girl singing during the Opening Ceremonies was actually lip syncing the tones of another, less attractive, young girl.

Yang Peiyi, left, was the voice; Lin Miaoke was the face

This globe-sized bait-and-switch left the world shaking our heads at China’s shallowness and deceptiveness. If they’re willing to pull such an elaborate stunt simply to cover up a less-than-stunning little girl, imagine what they’re hiding in terms of labour, trade, military, economic, and other important issues.

The Chinese athletes wasted no time in kicking ass on the actual sporting fields. Yes, the hosting team usually gets a medal bump, but it can’t be denied that the Chinese train hard and take dedication to a new degree. What can be denied is the claim that the Chinese women gymnasts are in fact 16, the required minimum age for Olympic competition. Compelling [internet] evidence emerged that no only was He Kexin only 14 years old, but that Chinese authorities had collaborated to cover up her true age.

Is He Kexin 16, or 14, or perhaps 7, which is how she looks

The International Olympic Committee promises to investigate the true age of those Chinese gymnasts, but who knows what they’ll conclude. If they prove it was a cover-up, not only will those gals be stripped of their golds (with team gold handed to the US women), but it will be many, many eggs on the face of Chinese sport.

The rest of the Games went off without too much drama, China-wise, but just after the Olympic Flame went out, The Great Firewall of China was rekindled anew. Following speculation that a new album was released with some pro-Tibet lyrics, China blocked iTunes access. The whole thing. They blocked 1.3 billion people from shopping for music because they didn’t like the lyrics on one record. Whoa, that’s power.

So what do we think about China now? In my opinion, it’s pretty simple: China can accomplish anything, but they are a bunch of shady, shady, motherfuckers, willing to brainwash their own people, hide the truth, flat-out lie, and pull all sorts of underhanded tactics to convince the world they’re on the up-and-up. But like I said, they can accomplish anything.

The Chinese brand didn’t get the shiny dose of global co-operation and openness they were hoping an Olympics would bring. Instead, they got raised eyebrows from the rest of the world, and a first-hand reminder that they are not to be ignored. China is an industrious nation — the people are hard-working, and the combination of human, natural, and intellectual resources will surely lead to China as a major player in the 21st century. But they’re nobody’s favourite nation, especially now.

I predict that you’ll see a sort of a backlash against China when it comes to the production and manufacturing of consumer goods. While Chinese goods may be the cheapest, consumers may opt to pay a premium for electronics assembled in Japan, Korea, or even Taiwan. Wearing clothing and shoes made in China will earn the same social scorn as wearing fur. Buying hardgoods like computers and cars from Chinese companies will be equal with not recycling. The Chinese brand is becoming a villain.

Eating up those American styles

Need a metaphor for the new Chinese brand? It’s no longer the world’s workshop, it’s the world’s Mob Boss. Yes, he can get you what you need on the cheap, but do you really want to be indebted to him?

This is about more than sports, consumer goods, politics, or other world issues. Branding of nations is the unseen charm that holds all the issues together — it creates for the rest of the world a perception and an instinct. So how do you perceive China?

// a tale of Britain, China, brands & branding, fashion, music, national identities, the internet
// No Comments »