TamJai Yunnan Mixian brings down-to-earth humour to HKers with new campaign

TamJai Yunnan Mixian (TamJai) has joined forces with local creative agency The Bread Digital to bring down-to-earth local humour to HongKongers in its latest brand campaign, upon the launch of its latest product “Grilled Fish Fillet & Fish Maw Mixian in Yellow Lantern Chili & Fish Soup” (黃金魚湯米線配烤魚柳．魚肚).

Breaking the traditional rule of 30-second online advertisements, the campaign features a two-and-a-half-minute long short film featuring local actor-comedian duo Louis Cheung (pictured right) and Lam Suet (pictured left), aiming to refresh the brand image with the two new faces. In the spot feature, the actors play gourmand cab drivers who eat along the way, levelling their characters with tongue-in-cheek comments, which is in sync with TamJai's down-to-earth and local humour.

Within the short film, Cheung plays a penurious cab driver while Lam comes to his rescue with a bowl of "TamJai" in his hour of need. The campaign spins off on a pun inspired by the Chinese idiom, sending fuel in snowy times (雪中送炭), but instead of fuel, Lam sends a bowl of TamJai noodles (送「譚」). Building on its humorous storyline, the name of TamJai's newest product is used in another idiom — sharing life's joys and sorrows (分「金」同味) — in times of financial adversity to celebrate Lam and Cheung's friendship. Lam further partners with TamJai's servers "TamJai Jeh Jeh", who are known for their eccentric accents, to spice up the film. 

The film has also incorporated two surprising twists to wow audiences. In the film, Lam is seen visiting TamJai in his best suit, and on one occasion, he bumps into Cheung and dazzles him with his eyes which is a remake of a New Jeans' music video Cool With You. Another surprising twist is the guest appearance of Kay Tse, Cheung's wife and famous singer, and their daughter, Kakaball, disguised as passengers. Kakaball's debut is powerful and ends the series in a sweet tone.

This campaign is done in collaboration with The Bread Digital and local PR agency The Bridge Agency. The campaign is all-rounded, featuring the above-mentioned video and a tasting event while new materials will be rolled out in phases.  

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Meanwhile, TamJai Jeh Jeh's banters have been elevated to empowering quotes and are promoted on the KMB app through creative media in this campaign. By placing banners at spaces for bus stops close to TamJai branches, the viewers will see short films paired with a specific Tam Jai-inspired idiom, from "sharing mixian and life's sorrows, the best is always the freshest" (「分『金』同味，鮮至最好味」) to "working is hard but you send ‘TamJai’ in the snow" (「搵食真係艱難，好在有你雪中送『譚』」) and “譚仔開工，鍾意溝（烤）魚柳” to empower all working HongKongers.

“TamJai Jeh Jeh banters is intrinsic in this campaign. We hope to create cordialness and build a special bond between TamJai and the audience. Through these empowering quotes, we want to convey that ‘even when life gets hard, we still want to deliver a hot bowl of TamJai in the snow,” said Tony Tsang,  group creative director and Natalie Leung,  associate creative director at The Bread Digital.  

"Our team has spent much time conceptualising the campaign. From the design to storytelling, casting and the creation of heartwarming quotes by TamJai Jeh Jeh, we have spiced up one of Hong Kong's most well-loved brands, ‘TamJai’, with our creativity and produced its own ‘TamJai’ humour. We hope to cheer for all working HKers and resonate with all our viewers, celebrating our shared pains and joys in everyday life,” said Sunny Yeung, group account director and Elodie Wan, associate account director at The Bread Digital.  

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to The Bread Digital for more information.

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