Marketing meddling

Last month, the distributors of The Warring States and The Last Blademan jointly offered a 100,000 yuan ($15,430) reward for information leading to the culprits behind what they claimed was a massive negative feedback campaign against the films online.

According to the announcement, there were a suspiciously large numbers of newly registered users on popular Chinese film forums and social-networking sites (SNS) giving low marks and negative comments to the two films – while at the same time, praising their box-office rival, A Chinese Fairy Tale.

Viewers queueing for tickets.

Despite the cash offer, there has been no progress identifying who (or indeed whether anyone) was behind the campaign but website promoting has long been a phenomenon.

This February, Eternal Love saw hundreds of messages forwarded on microblogs, photoshopping the film poster with different characters;the same campaign was used for Don't Break My Heart.

Speaking anonymously, a PR source explained to the Global Times how marketing companies use SNS and microblogs.

"We can control at least 5,000 users at any time. They are told to forward messages, comment and give high or low marks and it is relatively inexpensive. Forwarding 10 messages in a microblog costs about one yuan ($0.15), 10 microblog fans cost the same; you can get discounts if you buy in bulk."

Actors and celebrities are in on the act as well, promoting themselves and their friends online.

Pop star Faye Wong, wife of Eternal Love leading actor Li Yapeng, used her 3.8 million Weibo followers to post on the film and using a press conference appearance to put the film in the media spotlight. Such tactics, while manipulative, are widespread and accepted, and certainly not fraudulent.

Using some razzle-dazzle guangxi (connections) is one thing but when apparently impartial commentators are no longer to be trusted, the rots sets in.

"If I praise a Chinese film, don't believe me," well-known scriptwriter Ning Caishen once admitted. "I have to do that because they are my friends."

Critic Hu believes such behavior is not only lazy but damaging to the industry's long-term credibility. "There are no shortcuts in building up a healthy cinema industry," he pointed out. "There are too many traps fooling people into going to the cinema, such as lying about box office. But viewers will learn that once they see the film, good cinema is the only solution for the box-office problem."