While in Hong Kong on a university trip to present brands and advertisements that address the Hong Kong pollution problem, my graphic design class and I got the opportunity to visit Eight Partnership, a well-known branding and advertising agency. We listened in on their presentation on viral media named “The Power of Viral.”
I was plenty skeptical in the hours leading up to it, thinking that old men were going to try to talk to us about how amazing it is that people can make videos that become popular on their own (Omg, Omg, that’s like free advertising and it’s genius). What was to come was surprising. An Asian man in his mid-20s popped out to begin the presentation and for the first time I had hope. He decisively broke up the concept of “viral” into several sections: Amazing/Talent, Outstanding Production, Funny, WTF, Emotional, and Celebrity, mentioning that most viral videos are combinations. Everything was right on the dot. He knew his shit and could spew it quite well for a non-native English speaker. But then, he reached the WTF category. My eyes widened as he attempted to explain. He explained WTF as meaning, “Why is This so Funny?” Granted, he may have been trying to be polite by avoiding the use of the word “Fuck,” but as the presentation progressed it became very clear to me, and many in the room, that he had no idea what WTF is. He showed the Extreme Sheep Herding video that Samsung made viral, that shows sheep wrapped with Samsung LED lights being herded to create patterns and messages from afar. Pretty cool, but much closer to something like Amazing/Talent combined with Outstanding Production. Not WTF in the least. It was obvious why the fuck.
I could be completely wrong here, but I spent the majority of the next week-and-a-half in Hong Kong trying to figure out why he didn’t understand WTF and came to this fairly flimsy but possibly correct conclusion: Hong Kong itself is so WTF that people in Hong Kong don’t really grasp the Western idea of WTF. There are countless videos tagged WTF that are just run-of-the-mill commercials from Asia.
Of course, this isn’t entirely true, but one thing that makes Hong Kong such a WTF experience is that it is an amalgamation of Western and Eastern cultures. Hong Kong was under British rule up until 1999, so everything is in English and Cantonese and there is a strange juxtaposition of new and old. Huge, metallic, futuristic buildings sit right next to ancient temples. Funky fish smells intertwine with the fantastic smell of an American burger. Really awkward tasting McDonald’s. Every five feet a person is smoking a cigarette, and my personal favorite, drinking in public! The Indians yell at you to get a custom tailored suit, and when you deny them, they start whispering “hashish, hashish,” and upon further denial, some, will even offer cocaine. Miles of street shops with the same shit, and I mean shit. One of the only things worth buying are the fake Rolexes, but they treat them like they’re made of panda teeth and are incredibly shady about the whole ordeal. Bamboo scaffolding holds up all the construction and looks oddly stable. There are completely packed subways at all times of the day. Giant white British dudes tower over the mostly Asian populous. There’s visible street prostitution, almost no crime or litter, and dried shark fin on every corner. There’s also a 7-11 facing another 7-11 from across the street every hundred yards. If you ever go to Hong Kong, play this game while traveling. Go to 7-11, buy a beer and try to finish it before the next 7-11, buy another and so forth. Very fun.
Hong Kong is pretty cool, but if you go, you better have money. I am now poor, but it was totally worth it.
