Blue Cross HK's ad featuring fencing champ Edgar Cheung as tennis player raises eyebrows

Insurance company Blue Cross Hong Kong's ad featuring Edgar Cheung, Olympic fencing champion, posing as tennis player has raised some eyebrows amongst netizens in Hong Kong. The ad published on 24 May 2022 on Facebook, aimed to promote 100 free giveaways on its "Smartfit" insurance, as well as an extra 10% off on selected insurance plans.

However, the ad featured Cheung, who has earned his respect as a a professional fencing athlete, looking like a tennis player, leaving many puzzled about the marketing strategy used by the brand. 

To quell the queries of netizens, Blue Cross HK commented quickly on its post stating that "There is no boundary among sports. Our insurance has covered over 30 types of sports too!"

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a spokesperson from Blue Cross HK said the image of the ad originated from a campaign released earlier in March, along with a series of photos featuring Edgar Cheung fencing and playing other sports, "We wanted to draw attention to our new sports insurance that covers more than 30 types of sports, so we chose a more lifestyle image of Cheung playing tennis."

Meanwhile, the incident has also drawn attention from marketers and industry players, with many concerning how could PR agencies advice brands on campaign planning.

David Ko, managing director of RFI Asia, said in a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that in campaign planning, crafting the central message is critical. Using an influencer or celebrity increases the likelihood of the message being noticed, but brands need to ensure the premise is clear, especially if you are reaching for the unexpected - as this campaign did using a fencing star in a tennis-led creative. 

Ko also said that out of context messaging can be confusing and result in cognitive dissonance, negatively impacting the effectiveness of the campaign. Commenting on the incident, he said: "In this case Bluecross might have made a deliberate decision to use Edgar Cheung out of his usual realm of fencing, which can be an effective way to make a message memorable, but it must provide a context that makes the execution feel natural. Otherwise the net result is irritation, or worse, sarcasm and cynicism, as seen from the online comments." 

Desmond Ku, founder and director of The Bridge Agency added, “If the brand simply wanted to draw attention by featuring a fencing athlete as tennis player, then this campaign has been a success as Edgar Cheung can represent different sports." However, it would be more appropriate to add a fencing ad image as Cheung’s an Olympic fencing champion, he shared.

Ku also added that a short video or a GIF could be posted additionally to showcase Cheung could play different kinds of sports, and “this could offer more PR angles such as Cheung likes jogging or playing tennis during his spare time" and further advertise the intent of the campaign. He reminded that brands should always work on crisis planning prior to launching their campaigns, in order to avoid PR kerfuffle.

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