Bottega Veneta covers the Great Wall of China with branding and CNY blessing

Italian fashion brand Bottega Veneta has transformed a part of the Great Wall of China to celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year. 

To celebrate the festive season, the brand unveiled some images of the bird-eye view of the Great Wall of China. The tourist attraction showcases the name of the brand and "Happy Chinese New Year" in Simplified Chinese against the brand's bright-green backdrop. Some reports said the campaign is the effort of newly appointed creative director Matthieu Blazy. 

Although the brand does not have a Weibo account, some Chinese netizen shared the news on the platform. A netizen wrote, "Bottega Veneta wrote New Year's greetings at the Great Wall. To celebrate Chinese New Year, Bottega Veneta created digital screens on part of The Great Wall of China to display the messages of 'Bottega Veneta' and 'Happy Chinese New Year'. It also contains the brand's signature green and orange colours."

The post also added, "In addition to the public art installation, Bottega Veneta has pledged to donate to support the renovation and maintenance of the easternmost part of the Great Wall Shanhai Pass.

Chinese consumers are a key demographic of luxury brands this year given that the region is set to become the biggest luxury market by 2025, said a report by Bain & Company. However, ensuring the right messaging is key in the market. Recently, several luxury brands have come under fire for their marketing initiatives.

Read also: 5 Chinese New Year themed executions that didn't quite work

Recently, French fashion brand Dior came under attack from Chinese social media users as an image of a Chinese model with dark skin dressed in traditional attire holding a Dior bag made its rounds in the market. Some claimed the brand to be “smearing” the image of Chinese women. An article by Global Times said that the Dior controversy first started when it was put on display in Shanghai and a post on China Women's News newspaper claimed Dior’s images show an intention to smear the image of Chinese women and distort culture

Late last year, Italian luxury fashion brand Gucci and German automotive company Mercedes-Benz were also thrust into the spotlight this holiday season by unhappy Chinese netizens for promoting western ideals of beauty. Gucci was also called out for featuring an Asian-looking model with small eyes and what some deemed as rather unconventional make up. Chinese state media the Global Times said the model was dressed up in an "exaggerated" manner with nose ring and a leather whip in her hand. The image put up by Gucci in December, was promoting its new series of bamboo top handle bags, Gucci's new post read, "Inspired by an archival design from the ‘40s, a bamboo top handle bag is reimagined by #AlessandroMichele with colourful geometric patterns in a nod to the House’s equestrian heritage."

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz was criticised by netizens in China after it launched an ad featuring a Chinese model with slanted eyes. Since then, the brand has removed the ad and it can no longer be seen on Weibo. Meanwhile, the hashtag "Mercedes-Benz model's make-up is controversial" gained more than 1.7 million views. 

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