There are some strange things happening with Langham Hotels in Hong Kong at the moment, which I think are in danger of insulting not only Hong Kongers, but cultural commentators and even the local tourism board!
For the past month or so Langham has been releasing a series of videos online, under the tagline of - Visiting Hong Kong is a "Big Deal". Langham's argument is that traveling today can be a big deal, but thankfully Langham Place and the Eaton Hotel in Kowloon are here to assist you with this “Big Deal” solution.
To communicate this "Big Deal" Langham has invented a series of bizarre circumstances which travelers to Hong Kong may experience. The videos all contain a similar theme. Rude and frustrated travelers looking to escape a world of madness you find around Hong Kong streets for the safety net of Langham Hotels, where they can then have a true oriental experience, or Langham's version of it!
I find it strange that Langham is peddling these romanticised images of Asia and Asians. Who does that these days? In my two years of living in Hong Kong, I have never once experienced anything near to what Langham is trying to communicate, and I’m an adventurous person. Hong Kong was under British rule for 156 years, come on...
You can see all three videos here, but the second is arguably the worst.
(Update links have all been removed)
It features a clearly distressed white woman in search of somewhere to eat. After finding a street stall (a truly unique experience in Hong Kong) she orders chicken with rice by doing some weird chicken dance, only to discover that a chicken foot in congee is served. She then rushes back to the Eaton Hotel for a true Asian meal of … wait for it… a spring roll.
If you have a look at Langham’s price list you can clearly see its prices are way more expensive to what you’ll pay at a street stall and I’ll bet you $100 bucks that the street stalls are serving up a lot better chow than Langham.
The idea for the viral marketing exercise was launched by Prosperity Research, I wonder how extensively researched this idea was?
Already online conversations starting to take place about Langham Hotel are taking a turn for the worst! This headline from The Dark Side really takes the cake! "Avoid dirty locals: stay at a Langham Hotel".
The runaway train that is the online conversation can have a big impact in how opinions about brands are shaped. With comments like this already doing to rounds on Twitter. Langham better wise up!
"Langham Place: Where white people go to pretend they're not surrounded by filthy Chinese." Is that about right?"
" jessicalee87: WTF Langham Hotels, are you actually trying to DEMOTE HK? Please enlighten me. http://tiny.cc/njgjM"
23 comments:
Its like stereotyping HK like the mini-series "Noble House" did in the '80s
One word... BOYCOTT!
Was the woman in the chicken congee episode named Kay Ross?
I find the first episode very demeaning to the chinese people, When the white guy goes to Mong Kok lady street and finds a Hong Konger trying to sell him a watch.
The style and the execution of the scene makes it look like the guy stole it and is hustling for it on the street. So what is this video trying to say? The chinese vendors in Lady street market are thieves?
and you might be buying stolen goods if you shop there? i'm quite offended by it and will never stay at or use the service of Langham hotels, YES you got me right and I'll spread the word.
WHATEVER are these people thinking? this is 2009, not 1876. The best bit is that the ads are not even that good and definitely DO NOT make me want to stay at their hotel. BTW, my brother stays at Langham when he visits HK for business, but after this racist rubbish, i will definitely be recommending that he does not next time. And Kay Ross, after living in HK for so long, you really should know better.
I did not get to see these video's as they have been removed, but I suspect there is an element of truth to them, as it has cause such an uproar and been a point of discussion!
You can find copies of them at : http://thedarkside.hk/2009/05/26/a-pretty-big-deal-indeed-langham-vids-removed/
Think of the tourists. Langham place is saying that tourists, when they come to HK, rather Mong Kok (if you watch the vids carefully), they will freak out and stay inside.
Then what's the point of visiting another country then??? Why don't you just redecorate your house to look like Langham Place and stay at home? Economic crisis people! Save money!!!
Tasteless and outdated.
If you don't know how to make use of viral marketing to promote your brand, then don't use it! Langham case is just a good example!
the most racist people are usually the ones that point the issue out.. this was not racist in any way, and was only suggesting experiences and culture shock? of course not all chinese people eat chicken feet. i dont. or not all shop sellers "husle" like that. way too much time is wasted creating negative drama. boo to the darkside or who ever started this..
To the post above mine, its obvious that its Langham Place trying to repair itself. No wonder people prefer the Pennisula or somewhere less Racist than Langham Place. And no, its not the most racist who point out racism, its those who are cultured.
yes, its bad in so many ways that it's not even funny.
But at least they dared to try using social media.
Looks like Langham Place have learned the HARD way about the power of social networking. I beleive their mistake was an honest one though and look forward to seeing their follow up campaign. They could REALLY bounce back by re-doing the campaign to present HK people as friendly, helpful and able to speak English as almost ALL do - even in MongKok!
what a kerfuffle!
I think Langham ought to be applauded for at least trying social media, so many businesses in HK fail to even try. One thing for sure, this campaign has certainly highlighted how fast social media can pass a message around, good or bad. What is for certain, is that they were given very poor advice on what that message should be. Hopefully other businesses will realise that it is the message that was wrong, not the use of social media.
As marketers, irrelevant to whether on traditional, digital, or social mediums, a key component to a campaigns success is by really knowing our audience.
They obviously didn’t know their form of satirical humor was not really funny to many.
Too many people are missunderstanding the bigger picture in Langham's brilliant satirical marketing campaign and brand from the very beggining, so allow me to explain it:
1865 The Legend Lives...
Aristocrats all stayed at the London Langham (to stay away from the filthy Chinese of course), Britain was the most powerfull empire in the world. The Aussies were all criminal murderers & rapists sent away from England, the Chinese were all "coolies" (just like in the videos) and everyone else in the world were considered barbarians.
A hundred and fifty years later... The legend does indeed live on...completely different world but same cretin mentality and same 1865 management.
The saddest part is that both the Langham & Eaton hotels belong to an established Hong Kong family and have nothing to do with Britain's heretige other than buying the Langham Hotel London thus owning their name. My apologies to anyone who misunderstood my satire, It was never my intention to cast anyone in a negative light. I for one will never conscienciously patronize any Langahm/Eaton hotel again and as for their 1865 membership card - Thay can stick it where the sun doesn't shine !
Can't see the video links from this LINK - can you amend it..
Crazy marketing eh?
I'm afraid all links to the videos have now been removed. You can still find some repostings on YouTube, but that's about it.
Can someone please re-enact the videos or make a spoof, because I havent seen it yet. I believe there are many like me who have become interested in this discussion but not had the chance to view them yet. Were they really as insulting as people have said they are? Maybe we can hire a Kay Ross look-alike for the spoof.
i think the video's can still be found on the http://thedarkside.hk
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