"Birthday Celebration for the Leader of Northern Myanmar's Wire Fraud"?
Author | Hiu Source | Internet Brand Officer
Celebrities celebrate the birthday of the leader of the Northern Myanmar Wire Fraud?
Off the charts
Started in 2019 and soared in popularity in 2023, northern Myanmar has completely become the spokesperson of "Ka Waist", and it has been covered with a layer of danger.
So much so that now people talk about the color change of northern Myanmar, and any news related to northern Myanmar will be put under the focus lens.
No, recently, a news that "many celebrities recorded a video to celebrate the birthday of Bai Yingcang, the son of Bai Suocheng, the son of the four major families in northern Myanmar", was picked up recently.
▲ Source: Nanfang Daily, Weibo
According to upstream news reports, Bai Yingcang is the founder of Cangsheng Technology Electric Fraud Park, and domestic celebrity Internet celebrities congratulate him on his platform.
The birthday video involves a number of familiar actors, including Du Xudong, a national first-class actor who starred in "The Gate of the Mansion", and Hong Kong actor Charlie Cao, who participated in the filming of "Police Story", among which the most famous is Zeng Zhiwei, who is known as the award-winning person.
At present, all three have responded to the birthday video storm.
Du Xudong posted an apology video on his personal social account, saying that he cooperated with the recording of this video because of his feelings, and he did not verify the identity and background of this person.
▲ Source: Screenshot of Douyin
And Charlie Cao's response was much more sincere, bluntly saying that he shot the video under the persuasion of his manager, "I just made this joke for money, because I want to live, I want to eat, no way."
Zeng Zhiwei, who has the largest coffee position, moved out the "I have a friend series" as a shield, explaining that it was at the request of friends in the mainland to congratulate friends of friends.
▲ Source: China News Weekly
Someone commented: Is his friend's name RMB?
To be honest, the hearts of netizens are like mirrors, and recording this kind of video is nothing more than one of the ways for celebrities to make money.
According to a reporter's investigation, celebrities have already formed an industrial chain with clear prices for sending blessings, and the content of blessings is divided into personal blessings and commercial blessings, and the specific quotations range from hundreds of yuan to hundreds of thousands according to the celebrity coffee position.
Although the rice is just right, not all the rice can be just right~
Celebrities have a price and can be bought and sold?
At the wedding of the eldest grandson of the third aunt's second uncle, I saw the congratulatory videos of several superstars, and I was shocked by the network resources of the host's family at that time.
Open an e-commerce platform, search for "celebrity blessing video", and find another world.
There are all kinds of "star actors" at all levels, from Internet celebrities, duo-turned-actors, cross talk actors to first-line well-known artists and even king singers.
▲ Source: Screenshot of the e-commerce platform
There are stores that specialize in selling blessing videos, and the price of blessing videos varies according to the different customized content, relatively ordinary videos can be sold for hundreds or thousands, and professional private customization can even be sold for five-digit and six-digit high prices.
The store also provided a "star price list", which showed that many first-line well-known artists had quoted more than five figures, with the highest price starting at 120,000 yuan.
"As long as you don't have a bad money, how big a star can send you blessings. ”
According to "Internet Brand Official", this is one of the tacit ways to make extra money in the circle. Especially for some newcomers, outdated old artists, and second- and third-tier artists, this is more of a survival channel.
However, for some popular artists or first-line celebrities, they are likely to be used as a sign of swagger and deception by intermediaries to attract traffic.
After the blessing video of the northern Myanmar family was exposed, some people took a similar artist blessing video as an example, and even spread rumors that they recorded videos for a fee, Guan Xiaotong and Tan Jianci were the artists affected in this incident.
▲ Source: Baidu screenshot
Regarding the rumors of recording a blessing video for a fee, the staff of Tan Jianci responded: "Will anyone really believe this kind of thing? It's outrageous, let's let the legal counsel investigate it. ”
Guan Xiaotong's agent Huo Dongjie said bluntly: "It's completely fake, this kind of thing has never existed." We will not open such windows and channels. ”
He also added that a few years ago, someone invited Guan Xiaotong to settle in a certain platform, and he could quote someone else to record a video, but the team refused after evaluation, "It is impossible to make money with this thing, we are actors, and our main business is to complete our acting work." ”
Where is the boundary of celebrity endorsement?
Those mixed blessing videos on the Internet are not necessarily 100% real, and they are likely to be finished products that have undergone secondary processing.
For example, some businesses use "dubbing" to let celebrities "send blessings".
"I'm Jay, and I heard that today is your birthday,...... I wish you a happy birthday, and if someone bullies you, tell me that I will beat him with dragon fists and nunchucks. ”
▲ Source: Screenshot of the e-commerce platform
Fraudulently using or stealing the identity of a celebrity to carry out commercial activities, this kind of behavior of the merchant has seriously infringed on the celebrity's portrait rights, name rights, etc., and one is allowed to sue one by one.
Putting aside this part of the misappropriation, let's focus on whether the blessing video is considered an endorsement advertisement.
As early as 2017, the well-known artist Yang Di recorded a promotional video for an online loan app. After the P2P platform was exposed to "fraud" in 2020, many investors shouted under Yang Di's Weibo, believing that as a spokesperson, he has the responsibility and obligation to give everyone an explanation.
In response, Yang Di responded that he was not the spokesperson of this app, and that it was just a promotional video recorded to help the film promoter, and he did not charge any fees.
▲ Source: Yang Di Weibo
Although Yang Di is not the official spokesperson, his behavior does play a role in promoting and draining the brand, and the impact on the society is unshirkable.
As a public figure, celebrities have a certain social influence in their words and deeds. Once you stand up for others, it is equivalent to using your own reputation to "endorse" others, which is by no means a sentence of "getting in the way" or "not knowing" can shirk cleanly.
The person in charge of the company who has purchased this kind of blessing video service revealed that many people suffer from their low brand awareness and narrow sales channels, so they will find some relatively famous stars to promote their brands in this way.
Industry insiders also believe that celebrities shooting blessing videos for individuals is essentially an advertising endorsement behavior, and if the celebrity mentions the corporate brand in the video to form a publicity effect, it becomes a disguised advertisement and should be included in the management scope of the Advertising Law.
The chaos in the industry is long overdue.
If they do not cherish their feathers and use their popularity and commercial value to "stand up" for certain enterprises that are detrimental to the public interest, they should not try to imagine the immunity that can win the trust of the public again and again.
The public's trust and tolerance cannot withstand repeated challenges.
Finally, the classic quotations of Daoming Temple are attached: If the apology is useful, then why do you need the police?
Only by making the parties pay for their own negligence can they deeply remember that as long as they give money, they can shoot anything, and in the end they will only harm themselves.
Resources:
1. China News Service: The celebrity blessing video caused a storm, and the team of Guan Xiaotong and Tan Jianci refuted the rumors
2. Beijing News: Survey of the industrial chain of celebrities sending blessings: a few hundred yuan to hundreds of thousands of yuan per piece, and the money will be recorded, and the risk industry will also accept it
3. The surging news: high-end customization starts at five figures!"Celebrities celebrate the birthday of the leader of the Northern Myanmar Wire Fraud" sparked heated discussions, revealing the inside story of the blessing video
*Choreography | Ah Hui Review | Riyao