The discussion of "national products" is a common one.
Sympathy for "national products" seems to have become a commonplace.
Recently, a joke about the Qatar World Cup circulated on the Internet: our country contributed two treasures - Manning and Hisense.
Manning was in charge of the red and yellow cards, while Hisense contracted the billboard. But the billboard caused a storm.
As an official sponsor of the World Cup, Hisense set up a billboard on the edge of the stadium: "Hisense: China's No. 1, the World's No. 2," but it sparked controversy.
Some people accuse the billboard of "self-hacking", that the national football team failed to travel, but Hisense rubbed it in, satirizing the country.
Some netizens even questioned the appropriateness of the words "first" and "second" in the advertisement, arguing that it was too blunt and lacked subtlety.
It's reminiscent of the Huashan Sword Festival, where the audience argued over side notices while ignoring the actual bout.
This phenomenon seems to have become the norm: goal a, action b, controversy c, and ultimately confusion towards d.
二
Some people questioned: the national football team did not go, the enterprise ran to rub what heat? Isn't this ironic?
However, is the World Cup not just about soccer teams? Just like the Mount Hua Sword Festival, our martial artists may not be able to take to the field, but how can our weapons, clothes, implements, etc. not be a form of participation?
If the national soccer team can't do it, can't other national products participate in it? Waiting for the national soccer team to go on a journey, how can other "made in China" stand still?
What's wrong with sponsoring the World Cup and buying a billboard? This represents the rise of Chinese corporate power.
The official sponsor of the top World Series has an extremely high threshold and must have strength and reputation. To sponsor, one must have sufficient strength and influence.
For example, the official sponsors of this year's World Cup in Qatar include Adidas, Coca-Cola, VISA, Hyundai and others, as well as giants such as host nation Qatar Airways and Qatar Energy.
Among them are four Chinese companies, including Hisense's billboard. In fact, Hisense is sponsoring the World Cup for the second time.
Isn't that an honor? What is so shameful about it? What's wrong with letting the world's top stars "bring goods" and "brush the face" of Chinese brands?
三
Regarding the advertisement slogan "China First, World Second", some people accuse it of being too arrogant, and even consider it as a kind of demeaning.
However, how the text on the billboard is defined should be the official gatekeeper of the World Cup. Otherwise, can you put up an advertisement that says "Messi is better than Crow" and "Jin Yong is better than Gu Long"?
FIFA and World Cup officials have deemed the ad appropriate, so why do domestic netizens think it's bad?
Compare that to Qatar Airways, also one of the official sponsors, whose tagline is "The best airline in the world." This is no more dominant than Hisense's ad, so why are the Qataris okay with it?
Some people think that the moral of this statement is: "If you are the first in China, you should only be the second in the world", which is demeaning.
However, this understanding is too far-fetched. In today's society, "second best" is not a pejorative term, but an attitude of modesty.
四
Some people lack confidence within themselves and are always ashamed of themselves. They always doubt themselves and think they are inferior to others.
Nowadays, this phenomenon is getting worse. Everything in the country, from books to pictures, from movies to advertisements, is good, but there is always a small group of netizens who want to find evidence of "hacking us" in it.
Confronted with anything they say, anything they do, they think skeptically: ouch, shame on them, let the outside look down on them.
Lu Xun once described this unconfident state of mind in the article Inquiring Impressions.
五
The development of national brands is not easy. On the one hand, it is necessary to pursue high-end, on the other hand, it is necessary to keep the price low to meet the market demand.
Product standards have to comply with national regulations and advertisements have to comply with private censorship standards, which undoubtedly puts great pressure on national brands.
Today, Hisense has replaced its billboards with the words "Made in China, Working Together".
This is certainly a positive sign and a shout out to China in the World Cup.
For national products, we should give a tolerant and accommodating environment and not be overly uptight.
"Made in China, Working Together" is actually telling us that even if we are not competitors in the international market, we can create a favorable environment for each other.
Being kind to your country is being kind to yourself.
