Companies Respond To Ban On Female Models By Using Men To Advertise Lingerie
A ban by China on the use of female models in the livestream lingerie industry has caused companies to resort to employing men to keep sales going.
Livestream videos now feature these men wearing lingerie in an effort to exploit a loophole in the ban.
This has attracted divisive opinions from the audience as some supported the move, but others felt the men took away job opportunities for women.
Men in China wear lingerie in response to ban
According to the New York Post (NY Post), companies now feature male lingerie models in their advertisement campaigns.
Source: CNN
Multiple livestreams by the firms showcase the men showing off lingerie, such as push-up bras and lace-trimmed nightgowns.
In one such video by Alibaba’s Taobao Live, a man dresses in black lingerie. Yet another shows a man wearing a pink slip dress and shawl.
Source: New York Post
Speaking to Jiupai News, Mr Xu, the owner of a livestream business, said they didn’t have a choice.
“Our female colleagues can’t model the designs, so we will use our male colleagues to model it,” he said.
Source: Douyin
In December 2022, Mr Xu’s company posted a video advertisement of a male model wearing a silk robe to Douyin.
It quickly got over 2,000 likes, with many supporting the model.
Differing opinions on unique advertisements
However, not all viewed the move among companies as positive.
One commenter under Mr Xu’s video pointed out that companies exploiting the loophole in the ban snatches opportunities away from women.
They added that if it were a female model, the social media platform would not hesitate to ban the livestream.
“It’s not like this hasn’t happened before. This is still depriving a group of women of their job opportunities,” they said.
In response to the criticism, Mr Xu refuted the claim that the male models were taking job opportunities away from women.
“Many directors of these livestreams are women. Are they also stealing men’s jobs?” he asked.
Male influencers marketing female-oriented products isn’t a practice new to China, though.
Austin Li Jiaqi sold 15,000 lipsticks in five minutes in 2018 by applying them on himself.
Named the “Lipstick King”, he also sells cosmetics, skincare products and fashion apparel.
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Featured image adapted from Douyin.
