Articles and News

Beijing, China—Amidst all the pundits’ predictions about how China and India are set to become the world’s top consumer markets—eventually displacing the United States—the government in Beijing has recently moved to put the brakes on billboard advertising for luxury products or lifestyle trappings, fearing such ads call too much attention to the growing gap between rich and poor. In this article in the United Kingdom based newspaper The Telegraph, a billboard advertising platinum jewelry is pictured on its front page as an example of the kind of outdoor advertising the Chinese government is targeting. A portion of the image is shown at left; see the full Telegraph article for a larger view.

As of April 15, the penalty for using such words as “luxury,” “royal,” “high-class” and so forth in outdoor advertising is a fine of approximately US $5,000. But given that the price tag of one such product typically is higher than the fine, will luxury brands pull their advertising, as the government hopes, or simply fork over the money as a cost of doing business and continue as before?

Another article in the Financial Mail of Johannesburg, South Africa, also discusses the issue, as well as this video news story from another source:

http://www.france24.com/en/20110415-beijing-bans-luxury-advertising