Was Ye Ya's move to boost sales of Shang Ye Chu crazy? Absolutely.
But looking at the entire entertainment industry, everyone will find a surprising phenomenon: Ye Ya is already among the more rational groups of fans in the entertainment industry.
This may seem unbelievable, but it is the absolute truth.
2018 was a period of rapid development for China's internet and entertainment industries. As is well known, every period of rapid development is accompanied by both prosperity and chaos.
"Half a Day" burst onto the scene and dominated the summer season. Almost all the other dramas airing alongside it flopped. But even the greatest works can't appeal to every audience.
2018 was a year of explosive growth for traffic stars and the fan economy. China introduced the South Korean talent show model for the first time, and Meta Pictures, one of the three major players in the entertainment industry, fired the first shot by launching a boy group talent show called "Tomorrow's Dream World," which ignited a frenzy.
The premiere of "Tomorrow's Dream World" in January 2018 marked one of the significant starting points for the explosion of fan economy and fan culture in China. Mechanisms such as nationwide voting and ranking support laid the foundation for the logic that fans decide everything. The industrialization of fan culture began from this point.
The creativity and comprehension of the Chinese people are boundless. "Tomorrow's Dream" quickly surpassed its foreign counterparts, forming a complete industry chain encompassing vote-rigging, fundraising, comment control, and fan support, supporting a large number of entertainment KOLs and online trolls. Meta Pictures made a fortune, becoming incredibly wealthy. Even after several flopped dramas, the company remained largely unscathed.
Capitalists will sell the rope that hangs them. Metafilm made a fortune through talent shows, so how could its old rivals not be envious? Soon, Metafilm's longtime partner, Guanjun Century, also launched a talent show called "Winning Dreams Project 101," a format almost entirely copied from "Tomorrow's Dream World." Sure enough, it also made millions!
The big and small figures in the entertainment industry, like flies swarming to the smell of blood, have all plunged headlong into this highly profitable business. Talent shows are popping up one after another. In cities like Hengshi, Binhai, and Chengyang, it's as if a brick falling from the sky could kill three rising stars.
As one of the leading companies, Tianding Entertainment naturally had to catch up, launching its own talent show called "Light Years Sailing Project," and unfortunately, it chose to premiere during the summer season.
Although the audiences of variety shows and dramas don't completely overlap, the huge success of "Tianban" somewhat affected the popularity of "Light Years Start-up Project." While "Light Years Start-up Project" was also a hit, it didn't earn nearly as much as the two sworn brothers, Maita and Guanjun, nor did it have the same level of fame as the two veteran actors. So why would it give up?
Tianding Entertainment boasts the most thriving fan culture and fan economy among the three mainstays of its business. Having profited significantly from the fan wars between Luan Qing and Shi Shan's fans over the years, this lucrative business model naturally wants to be further developed. In the "Light-Year Launch Plan," Tianding Entertainment once again demonstrated this excellent tradition.
Although "Light Years Start-up Project" is not as popular as "Dream Project 101" and "Tomorrow's Dream World", its money-making methods are no less sophisticated!
Aside from traditional methods like voting, offline support, merchandise, and spending sprees, Tianding Entertainment has creatively come up with a new product:
Milk coupons.
These two words certainly don't refer to the cloth coupons or grain coupons of the last century, but rather to genuine milk.
The "Light Years on the Go" program team announced that anyone who purchases fresh milk, yogurt, or flavored milk from the Beiling Dairy Group can scan the voting QR code inside the bottle cap to vote for their favorite idol. One bottle of milk equals one vote, and votes cannot be reused.
This is a crucial moment to witness the purchasing power of fans. For just a few dollars a bottle of milk, you can give your idol a chance to debut. Such a cheap and good deal—if you don't buy now, when will you?
Tianding Entertainment truly lives up to its reputation as a master of manipulating the fan economy. Several mediocre milk products under Beiling Dairy Products suddenly became hot commodities, nearly selling out. The group had to work overtime and through the night to keep production going. One newspaper jokingly remarked, "The cows are being milked until they're practically water buffalo!"
Of course, milk has a short shelf life and spoils quickly after opening. Even the most devoted fans, who guzzle it down every day, can't finish it all and have to painfully throw it away. —The cows are so inconsiderate! If the cows were excreting plaster, they probably wouldn't be in this predicament.
In this age of advanced internet technology, nothing can escape the eyes of netizens. Videos of fans pouring bottles of milk into sewers, river bends, and ditches to vote for the "Light Years on the Go" project quickly went viral. Public opinion was in uproar.
These events all occurred during the peak of the popularity of "Tianban".
Shang Yechu was incredibly busy at the time, but she still managed to find a moment to complain to Ji Juntao about this with a shocked tone: "Capitalists would rather pour milk into the sea than give it to the poor. I never imagined this version could evolve—the poor would be willing to pour their own milk into the sea for the sake of capitalists!"
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