Crystal Jade’s char siew promotion draws flak with ‘demeaning’ Cantonese phrase

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The campaign aims to celebrate Mother's and Father's Day in a light-hearted manner.

The phrase translates to: “It’s better to give birth to a piece of char siew than to give birth to you”.

In the Cantonese promotional video, a mother chides her daughter with the phrase after nagging at her for various reasons such as not spending time at home and not picking up the phone. “At least char siew is nice to eat,” she added.The video ends with a prominent caption in English: “Be better than char siew.”

Describing the phrase as “terrible”, another user called li_juan280 said: “It’s so demeaning! Bad advertising!” “Our intention was to bring a touch of light-heartedness to the Mother’s and Father’s Day weekends with this campaign that references a common Cantonese saying parents use to express exasperation over their children.

“Interesting and memorable ideas are likely to ruffle feathers, and if they do, it typically means they’ve worked,” said Mr Nafe Tong, chief creative officer of brand and creative consulting agency ABrandADay. Chief executive of digital marketing agency MediaOne Tom Koh said Cantonese sayings resonate deeply with Singaporeans who speak the dialect, creating a strong cultural connection and making the campaign relatable and engaging.

 

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