The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2023
HLA announced Zhang Songwen as its new face — fans tore the posters down the same night
China's biggest menswear brand signed the star of The Knockout. The retouched posters made him look like a wax figure. HLA deleted everything within hours.
HLA (海澜之家) · 2023-03
What happened
On 28 March 2023, HLA (海澜之家), China's largest menswear chain, announced actor Zhang Songwen as its new brand spokesperson — his first commercial endorsement since his breakout role in the hit drama 'The Knockout' (狂飙). The timing was meant to capitalise on his surging popularity.
The campaign backfired within hours. Fans and netizens attacked the endorsement posters for excessive retouching: Zhang looked 'smooth and round,' 'oily,' and 'like a wax figure' — nothing like his real appearance. Critics accused HLA of rushing the campaign, reusing roadshow photos, and treating the most in-demand actor in China as a last-minute prop.
By 8 p.m. the same day, HLA's official WeChat account had deleted the endorsement announcement. Offline store materials were pulled that night. Zhang Songwen's own Weibo did not interact with HLA's posts during the controversy. Chinese financial media reported HLA's market value had fallen by nearly ¥70 billion, though the decline had multiple causes beyond the poster fiasco.
Why it happened
- The endorsement was rushed to ride The Knockout's popularity wave, leaving no time for a proper photo shoot or fan-community review of the creative.
- The retouching was so heavy it erased the actor's recognisable features — the very quality that made him valuable as an endorser.
- HLA treated the signing as a transaction (announce, post, done) rather than a relationship that required the talent's team and fan base to be brought along.
The lesson
An endorsement's value is the person's face. If retouching erases the face, the endorsement erases its own reason to exist. Ship the photo fans recognise, not the one the art department prefers.
Sources
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