SK-II / Marriage market takeover

Skin care brand SK-II has decided to stand up for leftover women with a campaign called Marriage Market Takeover, which included an online film showing the pressure that the single women face from their families. To help get this message across to their parents, it also orchestrated a take-over of the famous marriage market in Shanghai’s People’s Park. Instead of notices attracting potential suitors, the brand exhibited photographs of the single women accompanied with messages such as, ‘Even if I’m alone, I will be happy, confident and have a good life,’ and ‘I want to take time to find the right person.’ The film then depicts the parents’ emotional reactions to these posters.

INSIGHTS / Even though the subjects of the film are Chinese, they are dealing with pressures that women across the world can identify with, which is why this content has the potential to appeal beyond China’s borders. In just one week the online video was viewed more than 1.7 million times on YouTube, even though the platform is unavailable in China. As a Japanese brand, available across the world, SK-II has a vested interest in creating content that makes it stand out globally.