The power of suggestion

The one thing that stands out more than anything else about Shanghai is the overwhelming presence of advertisements. They are literally everywhere! There are billboards along not only all the highways, the streets, bus stops, on the commercial skyscrapers, but also on some unexpected places, like elevators in big buildings, all over the buses. These are not just paper ads inside elevators and outside buses. There are little lcds on the walls next to all the elevators in big buildings, including my parents' condo building. The only thing these little lcds have on them are ads. And a lot of times the same ad, over and over, and over again. Guess they are are hoping that repitition would make people want to hurry up and go and buy their products.

But I have to say, ads are very effective in China. People will buy the products on the ads. And if it's foreign, it must be better. So there are all sorts of foreign products in China now. And name brands being the number one selling point of anything. From Gucci, Louis Vitton and Burberry, to Sony, Panasonic and Canon, to Whirlpool, GE and Michelin, to Kohler, Delta and American Standard, to Revlon, Lancome and Channel. Get my point? Of course the fact that fakes are so much cheaper, helps with the name-brand worshiping.

All I gotta say, if there's something you'd like to sell in China, get an ad! A really big one!