Lunar New Year: The year of the rabbit
Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, is the most important among the traditional Chinese festivals. The origin of the Chinese New Year Festival can be traced back to around 3,500 years ago. Chinese New Year is steeped with stories and myths- one of the most popular being the mythical beast Nian (/nyen/), who ate livestock, crops, and even people on the eve of a new year. To prevent Nian from attacking people and causing destruction, people put food at their doors for Nian. It's said that a wise old man figured out that Nian was scared of loud noises (firecrackers) and the colour red. Then, people put red lanterns and red scrolls on their windows and doors to stop Nian from coming inside, and crackled bamboo (later replaced by firecrackers) to scare Nian away
The monster Nian never showed up again, but the traditions of red being a lucky colour carried through the centuries. Now it is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. It was traditionally a time to honour deities and ancestors, and it has also become a time to feast and visit family members.
And, just like Christmas in the western world, Lunar New Year is a can’t-miss opportunity for companies and marketers to build brand awareness, resonate with APAC consumers, and drive sales. It’s celebrated globally, but because this is a celebration steeped in cultural history and tradition, brands and marketers need to ensure they’re speaking to their audience, and that they know enough about the celebration that their campaigns aren’t just surface level, as it may inflict negative impacts on brand image and reputation. Therefore, brands should adapt and customise their branding messages to the Lunar New Year culture to successfully connect with their audiences.
MAG is taking a look at this year’s campaigns that do it just right- all celebrating the Year of the Rabbit.
Starbucks
Starbucks has released new merchandise and switched their menu up for the Year of the Rabbit across the US and East Asia. The merch, featuring tumblers, mugs, water bottles and coffee cups is being sold throughout the month of January, and the special menus will run for that long.
What we like about this campaign is that it’s making products that fit the theme of this year’s celebrations, and offering different designs to different countries also; which shows Starbucks as a brand knows it’s global consumers.
Tommy Hilfiger
For its own line, the PVH-owned label merged its signature American aesthetic with Miffy’s cutesy minimalism, resulting in a 50-piece selection that caters to men, women and children. Among the items are Miffy iterations of preppy classics, like the varsity jacket, collegiate sweaters and rugby shirts, each adorned with emblems and utilising primary hues. We love this campaign because it portrays the characteristics of the year of the rabbit, while embracing Miffy as the pop culture icon the animated rabbit has become to be known as; this campaign brings the year of the rabbit to all who follow the brand and know Miffy.
MAC
The 10-piece New Year Shine collection features special-edition products in theme of the holiday, including lipsticks, setting spray, blush, highlighter and an eye shadow palette, all in signature red ombré packaging.The New Year Shine matte lipsticks come in four colours, with names representing the luck and opulence associated with Lunar New Year, including “Lookin’ Like Wealth” and “Taupe of the List.” The Eyeshadow x 8 palette names include “Happy Gold Lucky,” “Blessings in Disguise” and “Wishful Pinking.”
The reason we like this because the brand is focusing on one aspect of the celebration; luck, and the detail in the new products will most likely pay off.
Maybelline x Namito
To celebrate Lunar New Year with Gen Z consumers, cosmetics giant Maybelline New York worked with bunny-eared urban art icon “Namito” on the Maybelline x Namito limited edition collection. The activation includes an interactive pop-up exhibition at Raffles City on Shanghai’s North Bund, with a setup that encourages social media posts and livestreaming- perfect for the Gen Z audience. Shoppers can follow a treasure map to experience interactive offline installations, try the products on, take selfies with different Namito rabbits to unlock surprises, and ultimately buy the range at retailers. This is great because it’s a campaign specifically targeted at one audience mostly, enabling the brand to really narrow down their strategy.
McDonald’s
McDonald’s is celebrating the Year of the Rabbit by partnering with award-winning, viral digital content creator Karen X Cheng to launch an interactive Lunar New Year campaign- meeting brand fans where they are – in culture, technology and even the metaverse. The collaboration includes creative designs by Cheng, an experiential AR filter, an immersive metaverse experience, and even a commercial of the future using AI technology. Cheng is bringing her heritage and that of the AAPI community to life in an innovative way with McDonald's. We love this campaign because it’s bringing someone in who is Chinese, who has a strong connection to LNY, and yet they can then share that with a vast audience throughout the campaign.
Manchester City
Premier League champions Manchester City have released a special, limited-edition kit to celebrate the 2023 Lunar New Year. The regal-looking navy blue jersey with gold trim hails the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit, and the rabbit represents speed, quick wits and agility -- much like Pep Guardiola's side. The figure of the moon rabbit also appears in Chinese folklore and is said to be a companion of the moon goddess Chang'e, who diligently prepares ingredients for her elixir of immortality.
Manchester City said: “the gold details also mark the successful mission of China's first lunar rover, the Jade Rabbit (Yutu), which explored the surface of the moon as part of China's Chang'e 3 mission in 2013. The jersey also bears a dark-blue moonscape pattern that serves as a reference to both the lunar calendar and the club's ever-popular anthem "Blue Moon," sung regularly by fans at the Etihad.
We love this campaign because of the sheer attention to detail; each part is considered, thought out and carefully placed in the kit.
Apple
Apple celebrates Chinese New Year with a heartwarming film about a young man's love of opera and the power of resilience. The film “Through the Five Passes” was shot entirely on iPhone and directed by Venice Film Festival award-winning director Peng Fei. Chinese Opera is a key part of Chinese New Year traditions which trace back to the first dynasty of Imperial China, and the film follows a young Chinese opera performer as he prepares backstage for a big performance. While he waits to go onstage, he chats with other entertainers and has flashbacks to his struggles learning his craft and developing his skills.The film ends by showcasing the people and communities that continue to perform Chinese Operas across China.
We love this because it pays homage to a specific part of what makes up LNY, whilst being able to push one of the benefits of their products. Tastefully done.