Jay Chou’s latest video, featuring La Samaritaine, has racked up over 90 million views. Will Chinese tourists now flock to the Paris department store?
What Happened: The King of Mandopop is back. After six years, Jay Chou is finally dropping a new album on July 15. Ahead of the release, the Taiwanese singer-songwriter shared a music video for his latest single on July 6 titled “Greatest Works of Art,” which includes visual and lyrical references to famous artists such as Salvador Dalí, Monet, Matisse, Munch, and Van Gogh. Interestingly, the video opens and closes with a shot of the artist performing at La Samaritaine, an LVMH-owned department store in Paris that reopened last June after 16 years of renovations.
The Jing Take: Living up to his moniker, the multi-hyphenated artist is famous for fusing Chinese and western music styles and has sold over 30 million records over the course of his career. In addition to gracing stages and music stations around Asia, he has also appeared in Hollywood movies such as The Green Hornet and Now You See Me 2, and served as the ambassador for Swiss luxury watchmaker Tudor. This new music video sees him back in the global spotlight, garnering over 109 million views on Weibo (plus 3 million on YouTube) within nine hours of being posted.
But Chou isn’t the only one who could receive a publicity boost. By highlighting La Samaritaine in the video and lyrics — “I’m playing a magical symphony, wandering in Samaritaine, renovated throughout the years” — the musician could bring greater brand awareness to the iconic Paris retail building. After all, this wouldn’t be the first time Chou has called attention to a travel destination: his 2020 single “Mojito,” which was filmed in Cuba, spurred a flurry of memes, tribute videos, articles, and mojito promotional deals, and even got a shout out from the Cuban Embassy in China in hope of attracting more Chinese tourists to the island. Continue to read the full article here
