Social media phenomenon of the week must be the backlash against Dolce & Gabbana for attempting to prevent ordinary citizens from taking photographs in front of their flagship store in Hong Kong’s Canton Road. Hong Kong’s bulletin boards and online forums have lit up with indignant posts from indignant Hong Kongers railing against this latest excess of big business at the expense of the post-80s generation. The protest culminated on Sunday with a demonstration of hundreds outside the store.
Predictably, traditional media have picked up on the story, with coverage in the Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times questioning the causes and implications. The PR and branding industry has chimed in too, offering a variety of commentaries, including the somewhat questionable assertion that the online backlash is somehow connected to a lack of freedom of expression.
But perhaps this is all a bit more simple. The traditional media has long reveled in “silly seasons” – times of the year when there’s simply little hard news, so wacky stories expand to fill the void. Why can’t social media have a silly season too, when otherwise calm web users get their knickers in a twist over something that – in the overall scheme of things – is a pretty small issue?
Here in Hong Kong, we have three short weeks between western and Chinese new year holidays, so there’s not that much going on at work. Europe appears to have not yet fully returned from its winter chalets to continue to destroy itself and the global economy in the process. The US primary candidates are trying their best, but they are too far away. And our Chief Executive election is a non-event. What else is there?
It is unfortunate for D&G that this issue has been blown out of all proportion. They could have shown just a little contrition. But I suspect they’ll survive, and even thrive. In a week when you can now buy an inspirational Steve Jobs figurine, and Eric Cantona is running for President of France, it’s clearly silly season, after all.
{ 0 comments }