Selling out in Taiwan

Why is it that bands sell everything from rice snacks (Mayday) to Scooters (Yang tz) to internet services (Machi Didi)? You would never see “serious” western musicians selling such things. I mean yeah I’ve seen Jimmy Page selling a guitar but that is a tool of his trade. I’m not talking about pop stars because they all suck. Anyone else have any feeling about this.

Oh yeah and remember www.chillybeach.com

For me, the strangest/most disheartening sell-out I saw in Taiwan was the cast of Tsai Ming-Liang’s “What Time is It There?” in those recent Family Mart commercials.

Is that weirder than Andy Lau selling toilets ? Does he have no dignity ?

The practice is a bit disheartening, but it is probably necessary due to rampant piracy.

Andy Lau reportedly made a small fortune from doing those toilet ads. I’d sell toilets for the amount of money he made. :smiley: Ker-ching!

I think different cultures have different values when it comes to celebs endorsing products. In the U.S. you get movie stars, sports stars (well, ok, not so many musicians) endorsing products left right and center, but celeb endorsements don’t go over so well in the UK - people think it’s phoney. I know we’re talking about bands/singers here, but my point is that cultures view celeb endorsements differently.

Besides, few singers in Taiwan make much money from their music except the big names like Ah-Mei, CoCo etc, so they milk their 15 minutes for as much NT as they can.

Another interesting phenomenon is that of singers putting out one not very good single as a way to become a TV presenter/host. There are so many pop stars turned TV show hosts cluttering up the airwaves these days. There’s one (whose name I don’t know sorry!) who co-hosts one of the Jackie shows who hardly says a word the whole time - just stands there with her microphone like a cross-eyed bimbo. Not a bad way to make a living.

[quote=“Grasshopper”]Why is it that bands sell everything from rice snacks (Mayday) to Scooters (Yang tz) to internet services (Machi Didi)? You would never see “serious” western musicians selling such things. I mean yeah I’ve seen Jimmy Page selling a guitar but that is a tool of his trade. I’m not talking about pop stars because they all suck. Anyone else have any feeling about this.

Oh yeah and remember www.chillybeach.com[/quote]

Strange how westerm celebrities feel no such qualms about hawking such things in Japan.

There’s an add on TV where President Chen is selling out to some Japanese Bank. Sure all the proceeds go to some charity, but I’ve never seens an elected offical whilst in office… It seems like the lowest ebb for a political stunt.

Ah bian is not endorsing the bank - it’s the other way around. Macoto is basically saying ‘we support Ah-bian’.

It’s a bit of a gamble considering Ah-bian’s chances of winning are not so good this time around.

Chow Yun Fat sells Wisbi. And he shot the commercial when he was at the peak of his career.

Ah bian is not endorsing the bank - it’s the other way around. Macoto is basically saying ‘we support Ah-bian’.

It’s a bit of a gamble considering Ah-bian’s chances of winning are not so good this time around.[/quote]

Macoto is not a Japanese bank. It is a local Taiwanese bank formed when a bunch of cooperatives were merged together as part of the on-going bank mergers. At least this is what I was told.

Ummm, actually I believe thats just the way it works in Asia. They do it in Korea too, famous actors selling stuff. I don’t believe it makes the singer/artist any worse. Maybe you were just brought up in another country (like I was in America) and made to think that artists should have more dignity than that.

Taiwan, South Korea, Japan,HK are small in scale compared to America. If China were to have such an entertainment leverage, I doubt most of their commercials would have pop stars.

But yeah, speaking of China, I can’t wait for the day when China’s economic, social, and cultural influences finally makes it across the world, possibly overshadowing America’s prominence today. Man, that would be the day when you see Dim Sum Fast Food all across America instead of Mcdonalds… and Blonde girls dying their hair Black, and Americans watching Chinese movies and learning mandarin…

Did your parents emigrate to the US? If yes, I suppose they didn’t share your above-indicated hope… elsewise, they could have just stayed in Taiwan and basically had those things.

like brad pitt or britney selling cars? or madonna selling for the GAP? or that one senator who was acting in movies while in office? i forget his name, fred somebody or another? the film “lost in translation” is an elongated riff on such.

yeah, taiwan sure has taken marketing to the next level. not too long ago there was a new computer game out, called “A3”. i was at aloss as to why Ahmei was on the cover of the box. the students simply told me it was a tie-in. Oh.

if’n i wasn’t an atheist doomed to burn in hell i would dwear i saw mandy moore adverts selling tampons in the P.I.

Maybe these pop “musicians” never saw the fine print in their contract.

Even if they had and there was nothing mentioned about product endorsements, their manager could have told them that he’s/she’s found another way for them to make a little more cash - all they’ll need to do is blah-blah-blah.

Cute pop-star: “Oh, that’s so cool. I’m not even contractually obligated to like or actually use the products I endorse! And I still get paid?! Gimme!”

Would they say, “Nah, I can live peacefully without all the xiao3jie5 adoration, the billboards, and those little photo playing cards with my cute face”?

C’mon, who doesn’t want to see their own face on a billboard? :unamused:

I’m not sure what all the fuss is about??? Don’t most artists sell their art (at least the ones who can)? Isn’t that making art commercial? I mean, even the Grateful Dead, who were pretty lenient about requiring tickets (before they suddeny got popular in 1986) and always permitted tapers to record their shows… they were structured as a corporation and they did manage to eventually sell lots of tickets to their shows and records and shirts and hats and socks and, well, you name it, the dead sold it… golf balls too!

What’s the difference if someone sells their song to me or to an entity that uses it in an advertisement that I see or hear?

[quote=“ckhcornell”]

But yeah, speaking of China, I can’t wait for the day when China’s economic, social, and cultural influences finally makes it across the world, possibly overshadowing America’s prominence today. Man, that would be the day when you see Dim Sum Fast Food all across America instead of Mcdonalds… and Blonde girls dying their hair Black, and Americans watching Chinese movies and learning Mandarin…[/quote]
Oh yes, I can’t wait until we lose the rule of law in the U.S. and replace it with unaccountable, one party rule. And who needs a free market? I for one think we need more cronie capitalism in the states; we just don’t have enough corruption. And family life, geeeeez. I’m dying to move back home with my parents, but only if we have plenty of KTVs and massage parlors where I can go cheat on my wife.

ckhcornell,

don’t mind the grumpy forumosans picking on the newbie. this is usually a pretty nice bunch of people.

Makoto Bank is now Macoto Bank, meaning
MAking COmmunities TOgether. Lame name change. MAKOTO was much stronger moniker. Sure, a Taiwanese bank.

actually the interesting thing about fred whatshisface was that it worked the other way 'round. meaning he started playing senators and presidents in movies, and then he went on to become elected. (it’s an interesting mind trick on his voters… hmmm i remember that guy being a senator or control tower guy (die hard), he seems so authoritative, he must be good.)

ho ho ho very funny…