Mousa; Crossing the line between “Independant Woman” and “Lesbian”.

Mousa, a Japanese chocolate product, recently launched an ad featuring a hot Taiwanese movie star, Vivian Hsu. The theme of the ad was widely interpreted as featuring “lesbian overtones”, which, as you can guess, triggered commentary; general chagrin from the ladies, and general river of drool from the gents.

The ad features 2 Vivian Hsus, one dressed as a woman, the other a man; who together experience  a pretty obvious orgasm scene between the two, coupled with the general tone of the ad it’s clear why most would feel the selling point was “chocolate for lesbians”.

But is that the case? I would argue “no” – while execution was definitely off, this ad’s focus is not on lesbians, but on promoting the idea of a strong independent Chinese woman needs no men to enjoy life. See this is where execution will bite you on the ass – the idea of Chinese female independence is great, but when you make an ad with two girls having an orgasm… what kind of response can you expect? Perhaps a more sophisticated way to express the obvious results from this creative execution would be “well… DUH”; the forthcoming response? “D’OH!”

The modern Chinese woman.
In today’s China, we see two different kinds of women; the older generation whose Confucian values push them to serve their husbands and sons; and the younger generation that fights forward placing traditional values at a distant second to personal achievement. Since the younger 80′s generation are from single-child households (due to the One Child Policy) these daughters tend to be educated and doted upon, and are not expected to take up household chores.

When taking Mousa’s ad in the context of China’s new female mindset, the ad supports this new trend in breaking tradition. We see evidence of this is Shanghai, China’s most cosmopolitan city; Shanghai men are more likely to do housework, clean, and cook than Shanghai women… men are also expected to provide a house and car prior to marriage. The new Chinese woman is independent, she is her own person, and she does not need men to make her happy (the Chinese man, on the other hand, is a pressured ball of stress looking to explode.. but thats a different article).

Execution, execution, execution.
So the trend in today’s advertising is a focus on women’s ever strengthening role in China; many luxury products promote this theme. However, Mousa seems to have stepped over an invisible line separating the strong independent women from the balls-out (literally) lesbian. Ambiguity, sexual implication, and playing a Japanese theme song (have you seen Japanese anime?) all combined to distort the intended message. The result? A teenage Chinese boy’s most cherished fantasy.

Comments from Tianya.com.

落花之舞1
Ha Ha, have seen this, very beautiful…

qingshantang
I came up with LES at the first moment of seeing this ad.

Dr_Reid
Ha Ha, are you shocked by the beauty of Vivian or the ad?

霞色芙蓉
If this is not LES, what can be LES. The Mousa chocolate must be used to regain the princess’s heart. This is bitter and sweet, as well blended as milk and water, LES love~~~~~~

Dr_Reid
Um…Upstairs talks straightly~~this is playing with vague things~~~
Anyway, the ad is bold~~HA HA HA

psnv
Crazy in love at the moment, as well blended as milk and water… not pure, not pure!

葱葱白白
Nowadays, ‘dubious’ is even used for homosexual = =

杜尚别
It is Vivian!!
First I was so shocked, never thought China would approve this kind of ad, even didn’t realize they were the same person!

睡荼靡
If explained as it is the appeal of another extreme self, it wouldn’t be so disgusting.

燃烧的黄金便便
I remember watching X-rated movie of Vivian in secondary school. So beautiful~ missing it~

moor
Too dubious, didn’t realize it is allowed to display in China

每天都打嗝嘿
It’s really kinda disgusting.

韩正
Lesbian plus sex implication.

脓寺撒宁
Tearing the necklace broken,,, that scene is absolute sex implication!
Tearing the necklace broken,,, that scene is absolute sex implication!
Tearing the necklace broken,,, that scene is absolute sex implication!
Tearing the necklace broken,,, that scene is absolute sex implication!

盛夏零度c
Vivian is totally a little fairy, stunningly beauty ~~~~

大傻他弟
The fatal thing is the TVC is displayed everyday on Oriental Children’s Channel, I am afraid it will mislead younger sisters and brothers.

qiyegege
Yes Yes. I am quite confused too. Such a dubious ad can pass censorship, isn’t it weird?

作者：扣扣的主上
I am replying responsibly that the chocolate tasts good, but I gulp down one piece each time, just never felt “blended with milk and water” Ha Ha.

小米1000
True, I thought it was too bold the first time I watched it, now this kind of ad can be shown on TV!

坐在月亮上的
Ah. Stunning. Vivian is so handsome acting a prince..prince… I am coming.

寒月映蝶
Uh, so I wasn’t the only one to begin fantasizing! > < Surly beautiful!:)

emilyfsq
Ah, this, this, I was just talking about this ad with my colleague. But what I said was the ad was horrifying, pale face, bloody red lips, and chocolate in the mouth, looked like there was coffee colored stuffing inside…we all thought she looked like a female ghost in horror films—we were wrong, we shouldn’t have watched so many horror films, we need to reflect……

番来番去
The slogan really made me speechless

木笋
Slight frowning, tearing necklace, tempting voice-over, omg, I am not pure, I am leaving for reflection.

朽朽木
Shhhhh! Otherwise we can’t watch it anymore!

tiamopp
Glico (the group company of Mousa)=GL (girls’ love). The ad is made creative this way!

八卦新闻八卦新闻
Totally GL

光复水水
The first time I watched this ad, oh my god, then I knew it was acted by one person, a little disappointed.

猛虎轻嗅蔷薇
How could I miss this kind of material?

slayerszyw
Scared, now ad limitation is so broad?

viko_kiko
Ha Ha, I watched, Vivian is really stunning, vague things~~I like it. Slogan is very fearless, “Crazy in love at the moment, as well blended as milk and water…” HOHO^_^

你比床重要
Who created this ad? No wonder 21st century will be the homosexual age, even ads are so beautiful, not like those guys and girls randomly touching each other, which is so disgusting.

荔枝菠萝蜜
Huh Huh, Everyone thinks the same. V is a fairy.

假如遇见你
The ad is scary, pale faces, red lips, reminding Japanese and South Korean horror films. The two women’s fancy expressions, hugging together, feels astonishing.

微笑的鱼sunny
Yes, Yes, My younger sister said, why two women? I pretended to be pure, saying, emm, maybe friends…anyway, the voice-over and scenes are very fancy.

水晶杯里的茶
When I first watched it, I felt it had a LES tendency, so I talked with my mum why it was two women, my mum said they were acted by one person…that’s right, now I find out there are so many people view the same, so I post my conclusion on the ad: it does mean LES

皓霜雪
I still think the vagueness is not satisfying the carving, not fine enough. Last time, there was a double-face sculpt by Harisu (a South Korean transgendered female star), which was stunning

babyforU
The frown was really classic..makes one fancy~~

luoxiaofang
I’ve watched, like a ghost movie…sweat~~~~

钟欣桐是偶老婆
Roman and pleasant sensation ~~even tearing necklace~~
GL~~a pretty creative ad~~good~

有狐无服
I deliberately looked for the ad to watch, just the voice-over makes one sweat toooooo much…

情迷四月湖
Recently, I turn on TV just to watch this ad.

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Tagged as: lesbian, tradition, women