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Advertising of the BeautyIndustry in China
How Foreign Beauty Advertising Affects Chinese Culture andSociety
Introduction
Since China’s opening in 1978, it has lured investment from foreigncompanies that hope to find bountiful opportunities by appealing to China’s1.3 billion consumers. Companies of all types have entered, yet few havefound success. One industry that has highly benefited from China’s openingup policy is the beauty industry. With increasing disposable income amongfemale Chinese consumers and a greater demand for beauty products, thebeauty industry in China has welcomed many foreign firms with open arms. The mass entrance of foreign beauty companies has a hugesignificance as pertaining to Chinese culture and society. With foreign beautycompanies came foreign beauty advertising, portraying Western models,blonde-haired and blue-eyed, flaunting Western goods and values, with littleattention paid to Chinese traditions and ideas on ‘beauty’. Foreign beautyadvertising has drastically changed the concept of beauty from a preferencetowards traditional Chinese beauty to a preference of ‘foreign beauty’.Foreign advertising sends the message that natural Chinese features areinferior to Western ideas of beauty. Some believe that mass foreignadvertising has created a psychological inferiority complex in the youngerfemale Chinese population. Rather than accepting themselves as Chinese
 
and embracing their natural beauty, young women are seeking medicaltreatments and beauty enhancements to make themselves appear moreforeign, requiring them to be slim, tall, white skinned, have rounder eyes, ahigh, narrow nose and wider lips. This behavior is unhealthy and may havelasting effects on Chinese culture and society.
Background
Looking back on history, we see that there is a recurring theme of beauty if China – a porcelain, oval face; thin, long eyebrows; long eyes withslightly up-curved corners; and a small, rosy mouth. In fact, beautiful Chinesewomen were often compared to peach blossoms. Beauty in ancient Chinacould also be defined by a woman’s obedience to commonly held virtues.“Women’s appearance, along with their impeccable morality, proper speech,and diligent housework, were compulsory criteria of good women. Inaddition, a woman should be obedient to her father before marriage, to herhusband after marriage and to her son after her husband’s death” (ChinesePerspectives). This criterion was highly influenced by Confucius-thought.
 
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EFT
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HOU
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REAM
 
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IFT
 
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EAUTY
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As evident in the last image above, up until China’s opening, it was quitetypical that the basic ad for any beauty or fashion product would feature awoman of traditional beauty holding the product. While it may seemrepetitious, this style was regarded as art. This was a result of governmentregulations on advertising, deeming it a Capitalistic evil.With the entry of foreign beauty companies, new forms of advertisement became more prevalent. By the time of China’s opening,foreign beauty companies were far more developed in the advertisingindustry than Chinese companies. In fact, a year after China’s opening,advertising was officially reinstated and the emergence and foundation stageof the advertising industry in China began (Hu). During this foundation stage,from 1979-89, Chinese advertising scholars began to systematically
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