Commercial Featuring “Leftover Women” In China Goes Viral

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irfd74z52Cw[/embed]  

A commercial made by cosmetics brand SK-II glorifying “sheng nü” (leftover women) in China went viral after it was released on April 7. The 4-minute long video, titled “Marriage Market Takeover,” featured short testimonies from Chinese women who fit the label of leftover, meaning that they are over the age of 27 and unmarried. The women revealed feelings of pressure and inferiority due to the perception of unmarried women being incomplete in Chinese culture. Additionally, they felt guilt and shame toward their parents, who had to bear the pain of seeing their daughters as “leftovers.”

The video targeted a hot spot in People’s Square, Shanghai, known as the marriage market. In the park, parents gather on the weekends to advertise their children, showcasing on one sheet of paper the most important features of their son or daughter, which commonly include age, height, education level, salary, and other assets. The video ended with a re-envisioning of the marriage market that showcased photographs of leftover women captioned with a self-empowering statement, emphasizing their beauty and confidence in being unmarried. In a heart-warming closing scene, daughters and parents reconciled under the understanding that a woman’s value is not dictated by her age or marital status.

Since SK-II posted the video to its official Weibo account, it has received near 5,000 likes and been shared more than 25,000 times. Not only has it proven popular in China, it has also received more than one million views on YouTube. As Leta Hong Fincher, author of Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China, pointed out, what made the commercial so powerful was its closeness to “the actual state” of women in China today. It helped to spread a message of empowerment to the demographic of leftover women in hopes that they will not have to feel ashamed of their status anymore.