What were the major developments in advertising in 2008?
The Olympics were obviously a big deal in terms of sheer scale of activity. Practically no company – official sponsor, ambush-tactician or on-the-side cheerleader – managed to stay completely unengaged from the celebration of the Games and their heralding the emergence of a more confident 21st century China. No one knows how much money was spent, but it was a lot. Liu Xiang’s withdrawal (he “quit”) from the 110 meter was the Games’ low point but at least it got the Chinese talking about unrealistic expectation of role models. The Sanlu milk scandal — product sold both on the mainland and abroad was found to contain an ingredient, melamine, causing kidney stones in children – was a huge step backwards. Practically all dairy brands (Yili, Mengniu and Bright) were eventually implicated, shocking local consumers and raising questions about the quality of practically anything produced on the mainland. Consumer reaction, one that state propaganda organs ended up managing fairly effectively,
