China’s 50th Lei Feng Day PR effort: a hero fades into ignominy

Lei Feng was venerated by the Communist Party of Chairman Mao for his altruistic and selfless patriotism. Present day authorities still feel that China's citizens would do well to follow the example set by Lei Feng. To that end, this year three old movies were commissioned to be screened for the benefit of citizens.

The results

To say the films underperformed would be an understatement. It was reported that some cinemas even had to pull the movies off the screens because they had zero ticket sales. Other places reported that they had sold a few hundred, but perhaps that was due to party members, particularly in rural areas, organising group screenings that people were ‘encouraged’ to attend.

It’s not like the Chinese are unpatriotic. One only needs to recall the Diaoyu Islands (known to the Japanese as Senkaku Islands) territorial dispute with the Japanese. Chinese citizens took to popular social media website Weibo to voice anti-Japanese sentiments. A smaller minority even took to the streets, looting and ransacking Japanese brands and establishments. So what went wrong with this internal public relations exercise? Why were the authorities unable to raise the same sense of nationalism?

What went wrong?

What the authorities failed to realise was something quite elementary—China has moved to embrace the global community. Lei Feng’s altruism and influence have become a dated concept. The simpler message of communal pride and an icon from the past seem less relevant to young people today—a generation that has been:

1. Exposed to cultures outside China (since the start of the Open Door Policy in China under the steerage of Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s)
2. Brought up to embrace commercialism and enjoy the fruits of antecedent political success, and 
3. Subjected to unprecedented competition and familial stress due to China’s unique one-child policy.

China is no longer the closed-door mystery it once worked hard to be. It is now a world power and every move it makes sends ripples, economically, politically and socially. There is an intellectual growth among its people. The population is more educated, exposed and discerning. They cannot be force fed nationalistic rhetoric if it is so far removed from the realities that they face.

What could have been done?
Had there been more meticulous planning, perhaps the inauguration of Lei Feng Day could have been a greater success.

Firstly, a remake or a modern day interpretation of Lei Feng could have been produced to attract younger audiences and acquaint them with Lei Feng. Unlike the peasant class majority in Lei Feng’s days, today’s China is made up of a growing middle-class. Their satisfaction comes from not a good day’s work on the farm, but from seeing their efforts to achieve social mobility pay off.

As a PR initiative, the Lei Feng movies should have been the culmination of a concerted effort. Instead, they were an isolated event of mere screenings of old productions, easily dismissed and ignored. Lei Feng’s values could have been used as part of the government’s response to recent alleged corruption. That would have not only got their message across, but also boosted public opinion of the government. 

But what was supposed to be a moral shot in the arm for Chinese society turned out to be nothing more than a face-saving exercise. China’s poster boy made a quiet exit out the back as modern China, on its way to make more money, passed him by without even a curious glance.

Elaine Seah is group director and Khairul Annuar is communications strategist at Brand Incorporated.