Celebrities and influencers play an outsize role in China’s social media and marketing scenes, and are an essential part of how brands reach consumers. In this monthly series by Content Commerce Insider for Dao Insights, we take a look at who’s been having the biggest impact and why it matters.
March 8 was International Women’s Day, and the United States marks the full month of March as Women’s History Month. In China, women in the film industry got a head start in making history in February, with comedian Jia Ling’s “Hi, Mom” (你好,李焕英) hitting a number of milestones.
Celebrities and influencers play an outsize role in China’s social media and marketing scenes, and are an essential part of how brands reach consumers. In this monthly series by Content Commerce Insider for Dao Insights, we take a look at who’s been having the biggest impact and why it matters.
March 8 was International Women’s Day, and the United States marks the full month of March as Women’s History Month. In China, women in the film industry got a head start in making history in February, with comedian Jia Ling’s “Hi, Mom” (你好,李焕英) hitting a number of milestones.
“Hi, Mom” was the first female-directed film to win a coveted Spring Festival release slot. The first day of the Lunar New Year (February 11 in 2021) is traditionally the busiest day for the Chinese box office and reserved for domestic tentpoles, with at least half a dozen big-budget movies debuting on the same day. With a touchingly humorous storyline that revolves around a woman who goes back in time to find a better husband for her deceased mother, “Hi, Mom” held its own against the competition.
During the highly competitive Spring Festival holiday week, it came in second only to the long-anticipated comedy blockbuster “Detective Chinatown 3” (唐人街探案 3), which was held over from a planned 2020 Spring Festival release due to the coronavirus pandemic. And in the weeks following the holiday, positive word-of-mouth reviews and social media buzz have helped “Hi, Mom” to pull ahead and take the top spot as the biggest release of 2021 to date. It now ranks as the second-highest-grossing film of all time at the Chinese box office, with more 100 million views in theaters (only the fourth movie to surpass that figure).
“Hi, Mom” is also the first Spring Festival film to feature two women in the lead roles, along with a decidedly female-focused plot, both rarities on the big screen in China. And while Jia Ling, who plays the time-travelling daughter, has long been a household name as a comedian, the breakout star of “Hi, Mom” was Zhang Xiaofei, the actress who plays the younger version of the title character. Her down-to-earth portrayal of a young woman in the early 1980s won over audiences, who have since taken to giving Zhang the nickname of “national mom.”
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