Prada branded wet market in Shanghai goes viral, but its not all great PR

Italian fashion brand Prada has turned a wet market in Shanghai into a photogenic spot, attracting many influencers to drop by and take photos and live-stream the partnership, which naturally led to the market going viral. The campaign took place at Wuzhong market in downtown Xuhui district, Shanghai. During the recent National Day holidays in early October, the wet market offered everything on sale wrapped with Prada-branded paper and customers could get a paper hand bag for free if they bought more than ¥20 (US$3.10) worth of items. Spanning 2,000 square metres, with a total of 50 stalls selling vegetables, fruits, seafood, flowers and meat, the campaign attracted a lot of people who looked for the bag instead of fresh produce.

According to a report from Global Times, the market was fraught with people - many of whom were dressed in high fashion. These shoppers picked up grapes, pineapples, ginger and even eggs with Prada package branding for photos. One residents said this led to a huge footfall to the market and added that the campaign had successfully turned the market into an art gallery with fresh produce being wrapped with beautiful wrappings. However, not everyone was happy about the event. Some vendors said they hoped the event could come to an end "sooner rather than later" as the sales hadn't grown much. Others added that people who came to the market loved to toss the the produce and many left empty handed.

Meanwhile, a recent report on SCMP said that there were also individuals simply buying the produce to get the bags, and consumers who spent more than 20 yuan (US$3.1) were eligible to receive the free Prada branded carry bags. This led to netizens criticizing individuals only buying vegetables for the bags. One Weibo user said that the marketing activity by Prada has ruined the down-to-earth traits of the wet markets. Another asked consumers not to kneel down, "I treasure celery worth of ¥ 20 more compared to bags that needs several thousand RMB. Don’t kneel down in the future, can you?”

Another netizen wrote, "I watched a video about this wet market in the afternoon. I don’t understand their thoughts – they need a Prada paper bag to wrap and if not, they won’t buy! They just love vanity and foreign brands really have a thorough understanding of the characteristics of fellow Chinese people."

Luxury brands have long tapped into the growing afflunce of the Chinese market. Prada, for example, saw its business in China grew an 77% compared to the first half of 2019. In recent years, the brand also had to cut its ties with Chinese actress Zheng Shuang after the latter was embroiled in a surrogacy controversy.  Zheng was accused by her former partner, Zhang Heng, for attempting to abandon the two young children who the couple conceived via a surrogate in the US. According to Reuters, Zhang alleged that Zheng "lamented that the children could not be aborted" and he was eventually stranded in the US as he had to care for the two children who were born in 2019 and 2020.

The Italian luxury fashion house announced on Weibo that it has terminated all partnerships with Zheng Shuang but did not provide additional details. According to Reuters, the move came just a week after Zheng was appointed as brand ambassador.

(Photo courtesy: Twitter)

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