Taiwan Today

A few minutes of television commercials can say a lot about a society. Because they have only a few seconds to influence viewers, advertisers count on strong, evocative images to sell their products. The images they use play on people's preoccupations, aspirations, and even their phobias to add emotional appeal to products, and to capture at least the at­tention of viewers, if not their hearts.

All this is true of commercials in Taiwan. Television advertising reflects the hurried changes that the fast-growing economy continues to bring to an increasingly affluent and worldly society. Only a decade ago, many commercials consisted of no more than announcements illustrated by signboards or still shots selling the simple joys of life like electric fans, stoves, shampoo, and preserved vegetables.

Today, commercials jump to life on the screen. Shot in full color, and using sophisticated animation or filming techniques, the commercials sell a fuller, richer life, although not one free of headaches. For example, the prime-time commercials that ran during a recent TV miniseries advertised a foreign airline, laser disc recorders, automobiles, instant foods, securities companies, pantyhose, detergents, skin lotions—and aspirin.

In general, the commercials flash images of happy families, warm friendships, innocent youth, romance, and traditional China. Very rarely do these images carry sexual undertones. The ads do have strong emotional appeal. It might shame a Madison Avenue account executive to wax nostalgic and sentimen­tal over home appliances, chewing gum, or bean curd, but in Taiwan such heart­-felt ads sell.

While there are definite cultural differences in advertising content, foreign advertising agencies have nevertheless had a major impact on the development of Taiwan's style of selling products. Only since 1984, when the government allowed foreign advertising agencies to form joint ventures with local companies, have television commercials begun to focus their appeal and creatively sell to targeted audiences. The list of foreign agencies that have set up joint ventures include Ogilvy & Mather, Saatchi & Gaynor, and Grey.

Wang Shaw-hu, president of Hwa Wei & Grey Advertising Co., remembers that when she began in ad­vertising sixteen years ago, commercials were made by film production companies. "The ideas often came from plots of foreign movies," she says. "What was lacking then was a systematic way of gathering ideas." In 1983, Hwa Wei began cooperating with Grey, a U.S.­-based advertising company ranked ninth in the world, and in 1987, the American company acquired 25 percent of Hwa Wei stock. Management and administration rest in the hands of Hwa Wei, while Grey remains on call for help in developing client relationships, planning advertising concepts, and managing accounts.

Foreign advertising agencies brought in an emphasis on doing things systematically and thoroughly. They under­-scored the value of market analyses, originality and creativity, division of labor, technical expertise, and the necessity of establishing an immediately iden­tifiable and attractive image for products. Then they examined the effectiveness and impact of the actual television commercials by conducting consumer polls. Both agency and client also watched carefully for movements in product sales.

The influence of foreign advertising agencies has prompted many people in the advertising field to divide agencies according to the spin on their commercials, that is, whether they emphasize local or foreign "color." Some agencies try to do both. "Hwa Wei & Grey intends to be an advertising company with mixed blood," Wang says. "The idea is that we welcome internationalization, but we don't want to go as far as making ourselves Westernized. Advertising is directed at people, and people are closely related to their surroundings. If our ads ignore local color, it won't be easy for them to move local consumers."

Wang illustrates the advantage of Hwa Wei & Grey's approach with a commercial the agency produced for "hot flat noodles with scallions," a product of President Enterprise, one of Taiwan's largest manufacturers of processed and instant foods. In developing the concept for the commercial, the agency's creative team put a Grey-taught lesson to work: Give the product its own unique brand image.

Unlike other instant noodles in the market, the flat noodles are made of rice and, President Enterprise claims, are not greasy. The creative team also recognized that the smooth and delicate texture of the noodles are a special delight to the Chinese palate, especially people from Canton, who call them "river noodles."

To express the uniquely Chinese dimension of the instant noodles, the commercial uses the Chinese ribbon dance. Three dancers gracefully and rhythmically draw diagrams in the air with yards and yards of white ribbons. (The ribbons are wound around the waist in traditional Chinese dress.) The commercial uses cold tones, coloring the film with bluish tints to emphasize that the noodles are light and not greasy. The camera closes in on the undulating ribbons, and suddenly the ribbons are replaced by flat noodles, also white and smooth in texture. Then quick shots of scallions and a steaming bowl of noodles follow. The commercial ends with the three dancers enjoying the instant flat noodles in their dressing room. A voice over intones: "Fragrant, hot, smooth ... perfect performance."

The ad imaginatively integrates Chinese elements and Western techniques, and even brings an artful dimension to an otherwise ordinary package of instant noodles. And it worked. A survey conducted by President Enterprise showed that the commercial had been more effective than other President commercials because it had actually influenced people to buy the noodles. The ad also won Taiwan's prestigious 1990 Golden Bell Award for the best television commercial.

Hwa Wei & Grey made sure that viewers were well aware that the commercial is about noodles, but many commercials herald the arrival of a new trend in television advertising by emphasizing art over product. For example, a commercial made by the Ideology Advertising Agency for Orange Stimorol chewing gum makes no mention of the qualities of the chewing gum. Instead, the com­mercial is all images and feeling and, like an art film, is open to many interpretations.

The commercial, which is aimed at the teen market, begins with a shot of a doll sitting on a chair by the window, a bouquet of flowers in the foreground. In the next shot, the doll is replaced by a smiling young girl in a frilly white dress, her hair tied in braids. Then comes a close-up view of the girl from behind, and in slow motion, a pair of scissors snips off her beribboned braids. Quickly, the camera closes in on a high school ID card with a picture of the young girl, now with short hair. The last frame shows the young lady in her high school uniform, gazing dreamily out the window of a bus. Chinese characters are superimposed on the picture, and they read: Four foot ten. Long eyelashes. Black and shiny hair. Day-dreamer. Likes Catcher in the Rye and Snoopy cartoons. Chewing Orange Stimorol.

Ideology Advertising, which is now in its fourth year of making commercials, has made these artful and voiceless ads its distinctive style. And because this style captures viewer attention, it has invited imitation and won media awards, even though some viewers are unsure of the message. The agency is also known for its standout "Looking for Chinese Identity" ads that added an avant-garde spirit to the Chinese culture promotional campaign of a Taipei department store.

According to S.Y. Sheu, creative director for Ideology, the agency focuses on three things when thinking up a commercial: the targeted consumers' way of life, what motivates them psychologically, and the aesthetics of the ad itself. "The creative team's job is to make the commercial have as much impact as possible," she says. "There are a lot of ads out there and a lot of informa­tion, so they must find a way to not only attract the attention of the audience, but also to excite them in new ways."

Wang Wen-yuan, senior producer at United Advertising Co., says that these so-called "ideological ads" reflect the Chinese way of thinking. (The term applies to commercials that have adopted Ideology Advertising's style.) He says: "Abroad, they sell a product by mentioning its outstanding qualities. It's all very logical and reasonable. They don't speak in a roundabout way when they sell. But for us, a commercial must be more than selling a product. We want to place commercials on a higher plane. Whatever Western techniques we might adopt, our target audience is still Chinese."

United Advertising's commercials for a local beverage manufacturer, Hey Song, do not follow Ideology's style, but their story lines are not only about selling. Hey Song produces a range of juices, teas, and soft drinks. The soft drinks, which come as sarsaparilla or cream soda, had been holding their ground for over thirty years. Then, in the late 1980s, they began to lose their popularity at a worrisome pace to foreign soft drink brands.

In planning the Hey Song commercials, United took a close look at the Coca-Cola ads, and noted the emphasis on the aftereffects of drinking Coke. In the commercials, teenagers were portrayed as feeling good and refreshed after drinking Coke, and they expressed the feeling "that can't be beat" in an energetic and infectious display of individuality by dancing or singing.

Hey Song commercials took a similar tack, but emphasized team spirit instead of individuality. The ads show industrious teenagers working together toward laudable goals. In one ad, a group of hikers are walking across a bridge hanging high above craggy rocks and a mountain stream when they notice some broken planks. Behind them are young schoolchildren who also want to cross the bridge. As the teenagers go about repairing the bridge, the commercial begins moving at a faster tempo. The boys carry a log out of the forest, and the next shot shows them nailing a plank to the bridge (part of the commercial calls for suspended disbelief).

The bridge is repaired, and the girls lead the children across as the Hey Song jingle begins in the background: "To young hearts nothing is difficult. We should exert great effort to do our best. Let the world build more bridges to melt indifference and arrogance. Let our' hearts fill with enthusiasm." Then, amid much teenage boisterousness, the young people drink their Hey Song cream sodas. The Hey Song jingle is catchy, and the commercial's message, aimed at strengthening the character of teenagers, won high marks from the press.

Kooch Lee, creative director of Key Point Production, which has been making commercials for nearly a decade, points out that in Taiwan a commercial with a moral has more impact than one that concentrates on the prod­uct's qualities. "A successful commercial is closely related to society and people, and should reflect the way they think," he says.

Under a contract with Ogilvy & Mather, Key Point produced a Maxwell House coffee commercial that takes a different approach from its American counterpart. The Taiwan commercial features the well-known actor and public service figure, Sun Yueh. The scene unfolds on a cold and foggy night, as Sun awaits his train on a lonely platform. The stationmaster invites him into his office for a hot cup of coffee. The camera moves for a close-up of a steaming cup of coffee, and Sun's hands clasping the cup. Then, another close-up of Sun laughing. The two men raise their cups to each other, and Sun says, "Good things should be shared with good friends." Only after this line, does the commercial state the Maxwell House slogan: "Good to the last drop."

Although Nescafe remains a strong rival, Maxwell House has won strong viewer identification with this commer­cial. "Good things should be shared with good friends" is a line often repeated on television variety shows and in daily conversations.

According to Lee, these are exciting times for TV advertising. "Commercials mirror what is happening in society," he says. "Since martial law was lifted three years ago, our society has been through many rapid changes. Creative people may feel more strongly about social changes because they are more sensitive. This sensitivity brings content, depth, and variety to commercials."

Indeed, some television commercials have reflected public concerns resulting from these changes. The Hey Song commercial, for example, is doing its part in educating the island's youth on the virtues of teamwork and civic spirit. Another Ideology commercial, made for Green Stimorol chewing gum, focuses on environmental protection. In the commercial, little children run naked across green fields while a type­writer repeatedly prints the same phrase on a long roll of white paper: "green is beautiful."

But the one public preoccupation that appears most frequently in commercials is Taiwan's ties with mainland China. The ads are often characterized by poignancy and nostalgia. In a commercial made for Chung Hua bean curd by Pu Lo Advertising Co., a middle-aged man remembers the mother he left behind on the mainland. A free verse poem serves as captions and talks of the small boy's departure for Taiwan. The boy, now a grown man, looks across the water that separates him from his mother. His heart aches, and he longs to see her again. A voice-over announces that Chung Hua bean curd is closely linked to the viewer's heart, just as the heart of a son is closely linked to his mother's. The slogan refers to "bean curd heart" (tou-fu hsin), a phrase commonly used by the Chinese to describe a gentle hearted person.

While many commercials work within the context of Chinese society, culture, and tradition, a growing number of ads are departing from the familiar formulas. Bozoll China Commercial Advertising Co., also a joint venture, uses Caucasian men in its commercial for Mei Chi air conditioners. An assassin stands in wait for his target, but allows the target to get away because he falls asleep to the hum of the air conditioner. A Saatchi Gaynor commercial for Oil of Olay shows a young man who walks up to a pretty woman and uses the line, "You look so familiar. You must have been a high school classmate." She re­plies, "I was your high school teacher." As these ads indicate, good humor, sophisticated graphics, and the sharp ability to portray a mood are also what make a commercial on Taiwan TV tick. Sex, however, rarely sells—and it is not for lack of trying.

An Ideology commercial for Orange Stimorol showed a snake slithering toward an apple. The agency used orange lighting, and as creative director Sheu explains, "Teenagers make up the target market for Orange Stimorol. We wanted to capture the teenage imagination so we gave the commercial a surrealistic feel. As we saw it, the image of the snake and apple expressed teenagers' anxieties about growing up and, yes, that also includes understanding their sexual identities. "

The Government Information Office (GIO) disapproved of the ad, and instructed the agency to replace the apple with an orange. Ideology complied, although Sheu says that it "destroyed the integrity of the ad." But Sheu was relieved to discover that the association of snake to apple is very strong. "The viewers continued to see an apple instead of the orange," she says.

The GIO is responsible for regulating the content of commercials. Censorship is not limited to sexual messages, but also to what the Radio and Television Affairs Department views as exaggerated claims, politically sensitive issues, or misrepresentations. According to Lu Ching-hai, secretary of the department, "The principle behind our censorship is the protection of the consumer." Recently, the GIO banned a commercial for a beer house called Miller. As a GIO officer explains it, the establishment was purposefully riding on the fame of Miller beer.

Wang of Hwa Wei & Grey supports the GIO's regulatory role. "I don't think the standards are strict at all," she says. "I believe we really should make sure that television commercials do not mislead people about products or assert that a product is the best of its kind. The GIO is right on insisting that a character in the commercial should say, 'I think this is the best.'"

But as Lee of Key Point sees it, "The GIO's twenty or so rules and regulations are no longer precise enough to handle the stream of commercials that come in every day. Creative ideas in commercials do not repeat themselves. And the more liberal the society, the livelier the creativity. It would be hard to use one set of rules to standardize all these different ways of thinking. Maybe we Chinese adjust to new things slowly."

Yet one popular commercial in Tai­wan expresses a whole new idea. The ad features Fido Dido. Nicknamed the "rebel kid" (pan-ni hsiao-tzu), he has been a popularly recognized char­acter in Taiwan for over a year. He has endeared himself to young people because he dresses like them, flouts authority, and is free. Fido Dido's face, name, and the slogan "And don't you forget it" appear on T-shirts, stationery and gift items, household goods, and school supplies. He is now on television selling Seven-Up.

The ad, produced by an American advertising agency for worldwide distribution, is in itself refreshingly different because it has a good-humored individualistic streak. The commercial begins with a sketch pad showing the line figure of Fido Dido in T-shirt and baggy shorts, his hair standing up in spikes. The illustrator, represented by a hand holding a pencil, redraws Fido Dido's hair, laying it down flat so that it looks neat and tidy. A jacket, a shirt, and a tie follow. But Fido Dido likes himself the way he is. He uses his hand to erase the illustrator's lines and pushes his hair back up in spikes. Before he walks off the sketch pad, he throws his jacket on the ground, and gives the pencil a judo kick. The lead breaks but does not fall off. Fido Dido walks away with his head thrown back, a can of Seven-Up in one hand, a yo-yo in the other. In a parting shot, he swings his yo-yo at the pencil, and the lead breaks off.

The creativity that the new commercials express and the feelings they are able to summon up in viewers has made television advertising appealing not only to manufacturers and businesses, but also to political and civic organizations. Advertising agencies have been eager to support public service projects, foregoing profits and charging only for basic production and labor costs. In fact, public service ads on Taiwan television are as outstanding as paid commercials, and are aired by the television stations even during prime time.

Public service ads have covered subjects such as child abuse, child safety, traffic safety, good manners overseas, and the necessity for upgrading product quality. Organizations have also actively used commercials to stimulate public service activities. For example, when the ROC Blood Donation Association put out its new television ad in June this year, blood donations increased 400 percent. Two people appear in the commer­cial. The first person says, "I gave blood to help someone." The second person appears and says, "I don't know who you are, but I thank you for saving my life."

The creative artistry and technical ability in television advertising still ranges from awful to terrific, but the trends in commercials indicate that Taiwan's advertisers recognize that viewers prefer a medium with a message.