Over the Chinese New Year, I noted an article about Haibao, the aquatically-ambiguous official mascot of the Shanghai World Expo 2010. The article, titled “Haibao Idea Born in a Cafe,” has the best explanation yet of how Haibao’s design was conceived.

According to the article, which profiled the creator Wu Yongjian, a professor of design,

Chinese culture needed to be the essential element to embody the spirit of World Expo 2010. “A large number of mascot designs to express Chinese culture were inspired by images of pandas, monkeys and dragons, etc,” says Wu. “What I did was try to find another way to interpret China, a more abstract way.”

Perhaps referring to the Olympic Fuwa as an example of the oft-overused panda design motif, Wu’s explanation of how Haibao was conceived answers some of the Netizen-led criticisms of it apparently being the figment of the designer’s TV-addled mind.

After several changes to the initial submission of the Haibao character were made, a design was finalized that incorporated the imagery of the Chinese character ren - 人 - in the color of ocean blue, perhaps connecting the mascot to the host city Shanghai (the character for Shanghai’s hai is also one of the characters in Hai bao). Indeed, the deeper meaning of the mascot was expressed in the article in this way:

Like an ocean, Haibao symbolically represents a city where all values and ideologies can coexist.

Ummm, ok. Back in September 2008 John Pasden of the Sinosplice blog discussed how the five Olympic Fuwa of Friendliness were finally fading into obscurity. Today only the echoes of their alliteration remain, signaling the impermanence of all things. To John’s dismay however, in Shanghai the Fuwa have been replaced by the emergence of Haibao. As of late, Haibao is indeed everywhere. (The charmingly creative installation pictured above was found bordering the Jing’an Sculpture Park).

But back to the subject of the Shanghai Daily article, Haibao’s origins, Wu Yongjian’s dilemma is this: From the release of Haibao back in 2007, the creator has been accused by Netizens of the Chinese blogosphere of, to put it kindly, being influenced by Growing Pains, the classic 80s TV show, which became one of China’s most popular TV imports.  Ask any 80s or 90s-generation Chinese and they’ll likely know Chengzheng de Fannao and might even remember how Ben Seaver’s room was decorated:

Western readers will recognize the character on Ben’s wall as Gumby, an American icon of rubbery fun, so it is perhaps more correct to say the designer was influenced by Gumby rather than Growing Pains, but Mr. Wu is not going to come out and say, “Yes, I copied it!” The Daily article gives a measured and authentic-sounding explanation for how Haibao evolved, but the true initial conception of Haibao may never be known except to Mr. Wu himself. I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Nevertheless, China has a large number of similar-looking logos and trademarks that could stand a bit of re-branding, in my opinion.

Although it is not exactly a Supertrend in and of itself, we put  the need for more brand development into our book’s chapter on the evolution of the service and retail sectors in China. I was also discussing this with a new friend who moved to Shanghai and set up shop as a brand consultant last year. Business is going well.  If you’re looking for a good brand-builder, drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch. I will also follow the topic of branding in a later post.

Happy Chinese New Year.

Categories: China Supertrends, Consuming