Journal of Dengn Hwory Vol. 13 No. 3 © 2000 The Design History Society Establishing the Modern Advertising Languages Patent Medicine Advertisements in , 1945-1969

Wendy Siuyi Wong Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021

This article traces the formation of modem advertising languages in Hong Kong when this society was developing into the industrialization stage and was experiencing steady economic growth in the period from 1945 through 1969. It argues that Hong Kong advertising culture developed under the influence of Western advertising techniques, images and ideology, which shaped the modem advertising languages of Hong Kong. Newspaper advertisements for patent medicines from , one of the earliest in Hong Kong, formed the study sample. This article also outlines the role and contribution of patent medicine advertisements in the history of advertising in Hong Kong, where they ushered in a new era of advertising sophistication and a new collection of techniques that are still in use as advertising strategies today. The role and content of Hong Kong patent medicine advertisements were similar in many ways to those of the West, but Hong Kong did not experience the growth necessary to establish advertising until after the end of the Second World War when the society finally achieved economic stability.

Keywords: patent medicines—advertising—consumption—material culture studies— ideology—Hong Kong

Introduction and background was patent medicine. Advertisements for diese pro- ducts will be the focus of diis analysis, which will The period from the end of the Second World War establish the most common persuasive techniques and through 1969 saw significant economic and industrial messages used within diem. The system of translation development in Hong Kong. This period provided a from Chinese to English used here is based on the very important foundation for Hong Kong to romanization of , the major spoken lan- develop its industries from its earlier entrepot status, guage of die people of Hong Kong. and also for growth in advertising and its integration The blooming of patent medicine advertisements with the everyday life of Hong Kong people. The symbolizes prosperity at die dawn of an industrial data for this study are based on a diachronic sampling society and an important step for a modern society, starting from December 1945, soon after the end of as studies have also found in die West. In die East, the Second World War when the newspaper resumed Hong Kong, a Chinese society, shows a similar pattern printing, to December 1969. Patent medicine adver- of development reflected in patent medicine adver- tisements represent the largest category of advertise- tisements. Hong Kong consumers first learned die ments in the study sample. Y. W. Chan's1 study also language of advertising dirough patent medicine found that the best-represented product type in advertisements. Very similar analyses of Western newspaper advertisements during this time period cases have been conducted by Pasi Falk2 and Thomas

213 Wendy Siuyi Wong

Richards.3 This study closely follows these and other basic economic structure as well as a political system works that discuss patent medicine advertising and its for future development under British colonial rule. In transforming role in the history of Western societies, the first two years after die Second World War, Hong aldiough the Hong Kong examples were less psycho- Kong was recovering from die damage of die war. logically manipulative and made less exaggerated Then, during the period from 1947 to 1959, Hong claims than those studied in die West. This article Kong entered the industrialization stage.9 In this further argues that, similar to early patent medicine period, Hong Kong faced two major internal changes advertisements in the West, those in Hong Kong m close connection widi China which helped the focused on every conceivable problem, and addressed territory to develop its industry and economy. They die basic and internalized needs of consumers, thereby were the changeover of power in in Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021 acculturating consumers to die idea that problems and 1949 and the embargo imposed upon China by die even potential problems could be remedied or pre- United Nations as a result of China's interference in vented through the purchase and application of pro- the Korean War in 1951. These two changes pushed ducts. Before analysing the subject matter of this Hong Kong to develop its own industry in order to article, it is necessary to have a brief understanding of survive, radier than primarily relying on die entrepot the historical background of Hong Kong. port trade. These changes also provided Hong Kong The good natural harbour with its excellent geo- with two important factors for its industrial develop- graphical advantages for trade was probably the main ment: capital and expertise from Shanghai's entrepre- reason why the British took over Hong Kong from neurs, and a mass population of cheap labourers. China as a colony in 1841. As Yiu,4 an economist Hong Kong in the post-war decades also experi- specializing in Hong Kong industrial and economic enced a dramatic increase in population. The popula- development, observes, Hong Kong was mainly a tion in 1947 was around 1.8 million, but by 1959 the free trade and entrepot port from 1842 to 1941, a population had already reached 3 million The popu- period characterized by the restricted development of lation continued to increase rapidly, and by 1976 it industrialization. The pre-1947 period did not pro- had reached 4.4 million. The economy of Hong vide Hong Kong with the environment for industrial Kong in 1953 and 1954 was in the 'take-ofF growth, and advertising cannot flourish without the stage,10 according to die 'stages of economic industrialization of a society, as in die cases of Britain growth' oudined by die American economist W. W. and America.5 As Singer observes, for 'commercial Rostow." But sociologists such as W. S. Chow12 advertising to emerge, larger-scale societies had to observe diat most of die families, apart from rich develop, widi division of labor and specialists who entrepreneurs from Shanghai, were living a poor life sold their production.'6 Hong Kong advertising did in the 1950s. Families still depended on 'special not experience full growdi as did Shanghai before die packages' from social welfare groups because tiiey Second World War, since such scenarios as Singer could not meet the basic material needs of life on perceives were not yet current. The incipient indus- their own. Studies13 found that Hong Kong workers trial development in die 1930s provided Hong Kong often associated dieir overall job satisfaction direcdy with a foundation for economic recovery after the widi Uieir pay. Benjamin Leung offers a vivid war, and is also the reason why some studies regard description of die motivation of die people of that period as one in which Hong Kong's 'industrial Hong Kong: revolution' took shape.7 The development of advertising in Hong Kong Hong Kong people are dedicated to work because they before the Japanese occupation during the Second are motivated by die strong desire for socio-economic advancement, because they believe that hard work and World War was very limited. Aldiough early Hong investing time and efforts in work through further studies Kong advertising benefited from talented artists such 8 will one day bring rewards in this land of abundant op- as Kwan Wai-nung from Guangdong, Hong Kong portunities. In other words, they believe in the 'rags-to- held a less important position both in industry and in riches' Hong Kong Dream.14 advertising dian Shanghai. However, since Hong Kong was a free trade port, the period before die This ' "rags-to-riches" Hong Kong Dream' laid die Second World War provided Hong Kong widi a foundation for economic success. It is not difficult to

214 Patent Medicine Newspaper Advertising in Hong Kong, 1945—1969 understand why Hong Kong has developed into one was the Hong Kong Gazette published in 1841, which of the 'world's most consumption-oriented societies' merged with the Friend of China one year later and in the late 1980s, as Tse, Belk and Zhou's15 study has was renamed the Friend of China and Hong Kong shown. Gazette. The newly formed newspaper was published The increase in income indicates the accumula- until 1859.x Although a number of tion of the consumption power of wage labourers, dailies operated from the late 1880s, the appearance which was an important factor for the activities of of Wah Kiu Yat Po and Kung Sheung Daily News advertising to take place. The wages of all three published in 1925 marked the real start of the era of worker categories (unskilled, semi-skilled and commercial presses with the objective of serving the skilled) remained quite stable from the early 1950s community and commerce. The other two major Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021 until 1962. Wages began to climb steadily and quite Chinese language newspapers still published today are rapidly from 1963 onwards. By as early as 1963, the Sing Taojih Pao {Sing Tao Daily), established in 1938, average semi-skilled labourer's daily income had and Sing Pao, established in 1939. Sing Tao Daily was increased by 46 per cent compared to a decade founded by the Tiger Balm Oils boss, Wu Man-fu, earlier in 1953. Labourers benefited from the rise with the promotion of his products as one of the main in income with the low inflation rate throughout objectives.21 It acted as a pioneer in the establishment the 1960s. By 1971, the increase was already 110 per of a new standard for the industry when it quickly cent over 1963 wages.16 Getting a job was no longer gained a reputation in editorial achievement. a problem, and the public housing estate programme Sing Tao Daily has been a well-established 17 started in 1954 by the government effectively Chinese-language newspaper since 1938 and is still provided a stable shelter for needy households. In published today. It is also the most preferred 'sample' sum, it can be claimed that the 'absolute poor' social adopted in advertising research studies such as those phenomenon was vanishing during the 1950s and conducted by Chan,22 Tse, Belk and Zhou,23 and 1960s, and Hong Kong reached the height of its Sze.24 Burma-born owner Wu Man-fu's idea of industrial growth and diversification stage in the creating his own medium to promote the Tiger 1970s. Advertising in newspapers, which were the Balm tie-in products was actually inspired by another most popular form of media and which had a South East Asia tycoon in Singapore, Chen Ga-kan, consistent everyday connection to the people who established Nan Yang Shueng Po in 1923 and 18 during the period from 1945 to 1969, captures made use of his newspaper to promote his own the changes from 'rags-to-riches' in the everyday life product, Bell Plastics. The introduction of such an of the people. Among them, patent medicine adver- objective in organizing a newspaper also contributed tisements reflect the physiological needs and satisfac- important innovations to the system of advertising in tions of Hong Kong people at that time the best. newspapers.25 Newspapers were an important chan- nel for advertising before the establishment of wireless broadcasting stations, Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) in 1967. There is no doubt that Sing Tao Daily Advertising and the development of played a significant role in newspaper history as a newspapers as a communication communication and advertising medium in Hong medium Kong; moreover, it has gained a reputation as a model case in most academic studies of newspaper The introduction of newspapers to China represented advertising in Hong Kong. Newspapers were the an important medium for advertising as it did in the only mass medium to enter into the daily life of the West, since advertising provided a major source of general populace during these two decades, and Sing funds for the press.19 The concepts and functions of Tao Daily remained consistently one of the major modern newspapers never appeared in Chinese offi- papers throughout this lengthy period. Its readership cial gazettes before the establishment of the first consisted of common working men seeking news of Chinese language newspaper, the Chinese Monthly daily events and practical information to help them Magazine published in Malacca in 1815 by a British cope with the harsh realities of daily life, rather than missionary, Robert Morrison. The first British-run pleasure or entertainment. English-language newspaper that took advertisements

215 Wendy Siuyi Wong

The meaning of patent medicines this time were mainly private and expensive, so working people avoided them if at all possible. Patent medicines were the dominant products adver- Patent medicines represented the least expensive tised in the newspaper advertisement sample from way to provide preventive health care and to cure, Sing Tao Daily in Hong Kong in the early 1950s to or attempt to cure, minor ailments of various types. 1960s. This was also found in Western societies such They offered some competition for the traditional 26 as England, only much earlier at the end of the Chinese herbal remedies, which were also less expen- nineteenth century. As Falk states in his article on the sive than Western medical treatment, but which genealogy of modern advertising '[p]atent medicines required a longer time to prepare and to achieve have played a central role in the history of modern results compared to patent medicines. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021 27 advertising.' The practice of producing 'patent During this period, the post-war era, patent med- medicines,' medical formulas registered in order to icine advertising in Hong Kong newspapers was in protect their 'secret' recipes, started in eighteenth- 28 effect educating the consumers of Hong Kong about century England. Patent medicines represented a the 'fundamental choice in consumption',30 meaning wide range of remedies, most of which had little that the advertising techniques were becoming more actual curative or medicinal value. Thus, they relied sophisticated and moving further away from present- heavily on advertising claims and techniques for sales ing factual and useful information about the products and popularity. As Richards states, 'patent medicines' advertised. Both Chinese and Western patent medi- could include: cines were mainly sold in stores which specialized in over-the-counter, 'ready to consume' remedies. In pills, powders, unguents, salves, ointments, drops, lotions, addition to gathering information from newspaper oils, spirits, mouthwashes, medicated herbs, and healing waters. Because so many of the makers of this babel of advertising, people learned about patent medicines articles applied for the protection of government patents through the recommendations of friends and through to preserve their trade secrets, they were known as the personal experience. 'patent' medicine men.29 Naming the nameless A wide variety of patent medicines listed by Richards can also be found in the Hong Kong sample. Among Advertising is a form of information diat is arguably the collected samples, we can categorize the Hong useful or even necessary to a large number of people Kong patent medicine products advertised into baby as potential consumers, and ' industry pharmaceutical products, cough and cold prepara- defense, and indeed a powerful theoretical position tions, eye care, Chinese medicated creams and oils, can be constructed around it, based on the social Chinese medicines, stomach-ache medicines, and benefits of information flow.'31 In Hong Kong's case, tonics and vitamins. Among the advertisements the words in advertisements in the first decade after found in the Chinese newspapers dating from the the war are on the informational level, with product beginning of the century, patent medicines were not and brand names the most common information to only products imported from the West but they also be found. As Baudrillard explains, brand is: included traditional Chinese medicines. Patent medicine advertisements began to see steady the principal concept of advertising, [and] summarizes growth, as they had earlier in the West, with the well the possibilities of a 'language' of consumption . . . each product 'worthy of the name' has a brand name . . . progressive economic and social environment after the function of the brand name is to signal the product; 1945 in Hong Kong. As Hong Kong was in the its secondary function is to mobilize connotations of industrialization stage from 1947 until 1959, people affect.32 were generally still fighting for a living and the basic need of health. With limited income and almost no The period under examination here represents con- daily medical welfare provided by the government, crete efforts on the part of the patent medicine sellers patent medicines were one of the alternative ways to improve further the association of their products that people could obtain inexpensive basic treatments with brand name. Thus, the inclusion of brand name for daily health care. Hospitals and doctors' offices at was the most common advertising strategy during the

216 Patent Medlcine Newspaper Advertising in Hong Kong, 19451969 first phase discussed here, from 1945 to 1950. For example, Kwan Yick Health Water [I] and Watson Safety Water [2] advertisements both contain words that indicate the names of the products. The copy of both advertisements tells us that the function of both medicines is to keep chddren healthy and strong. Although these two similar kinds of baby pharma- ceutical products may not have much difference in function, the different names or brands suggest that the two products seem dfferent and may be pur- Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021 chased by merent consumers for different reasons. Using the product names was particularly irnport- ant for patent medicines since, as Richards33 points out, such 'medicines' were hardly any different from one another and they often claimed to have a wide range of somewhat unrelated uses. Chinese patent medicine advertisements in the Hong Kong sample provide some of the best examples to illustrate the use Fig 2. Watson Safety Water, Sing Too Daily, 20 December 1945 of name in this context. Pills under different product and brand names such as Po Chai Yuen, Sap Ling Dan, Tang Sap Yee Guo Soh Yuen and Tiger Balm Pa Gwa Dan were for multiple purposes, from curing fever, coughing, headache, to general relief of physi- cal pain. Among these Chinese medicines, medical oils and pastes were produced under a wide variety of brand names but with almost no difference fkom one another in the actual product and uses advertised. Although such pills or medical oilsJ4 may not have appeared much different from one other, most of them claimed some kind of secret family/business recipe or special formula that provided ample reason as to why their brand name offered something special to the consumer. In these advertisements, '[tlhe brand name and frequently a picture of the package are prominent. The text is used primarily to describe the product and its benefits, characteristics, performance, or constr~ction.'~~ A number of patent medicine advertisements used a prominent brand name approach in the early stage, with a picture of the actual product becoming more common at a later stage after 1950. The 'textually oriented ads placed greatest emphasis upon lan- guagedescnption of the product, promises, and arg~ment,"~and these are easy to idennfy in the Hong Kong sample. For example, in one of the Po Fig 1. Kwan Y~ckHealth Water. Sig Tao Daily, 20 December Chai Yuen advertisements [3] that appeared in 1946, 1945 there are twenty-two Chinese characters giving out

217 Wendy Siuyi Wong

ques discussed below, the methods of brand and product identification began to build up a language of advertising in the way that it had first been created in the West.

Identification of deficit 'Naming the nameless' product with no exact func- tional difference &om other products was an import- ant first step in the development ofmodem advertising Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021 in simple text-oriented product-information adver- tisements. Historically, a shift from primarily words towards a more sophisticated combination of words and images 'made possible the transformation of concrete products into representations, into complex meanings carried by words and images.13' The adver- tisements from 1945 to the early 1950s contain mainly 'words' that provide information such as brand names, manufacturers' names, product descrip- Fig 3. Po Cha~Yuen, Sing Tao Daily, 20 December 1946 tions, and usage and purchase details [4-6]. Size was usually smaller compared with those of the later stage information including the name of the product, its (from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s) as words use and effect, the manufacturer's name, Lee Chung could fit efficiently into a small space. Later on, Shing Tong Medicine Manufacturer, and finally the however, patent medicine advertisements became claim that it is essential for everyone. In such a small more image-oriented. The images mainly showed area of only approximately of 4.5 cm by 12.6 cm, the product itself [7-91, but in some cases the prod- almost every space is fully occupied. uct users were also depicted. As a consequence, The production method for this type of line-art advertisements became larger with a greater variety advertisement was mainly the same technology used of picture styles. for newspaper printing. There were two sources of Once the element of product identification with a advertising design-one whereby artists worked brand name had been achieved, the way was opened directly for the newspaper, the other where local for the brand name to be used in ever more sophistic- advertising agencies were employed by the advertiser. ated advertising techniques, one of which was the In either case the advertiser would pay for the design association of the produdbrand with a problem or and production of the advertisements. Advertise- 'deficit' that it could supposedly correct. Falk notes ments for Western products were most likely to be here that the product advertisement must identify designed by advertising agencies, whereas those for some need or 'deficit' for the consumer, and then local products such as Tiger Balm were usually explain how the product will address or remedy that designed by artists employed by the newspapers. problem. He refers to the product as a 'complement' From about 1950, the depiction of the actual since it alleviates the problem or deficit and brings product became more tiequent, playing a central about 'wholeness' for the con~umer.'~Falk points out role in informing consumers. In patent medicine that consumers may not be aware of the deficit prior advertisements, the picture of the product not only to seeing its description in the advertisement. Hence, denoted it as a 'medicine', but also implied through the nanung of the deficit can be seen as an important the visual symbol a cure for a particular sickness. The step as well, in effect creating a need for the product technique of showing a vlsual image was effective in being advertised. helping consumers to build up their own connotative The goal was to legitimate bodily problems as interpretation and to recognize the product when 'deficits' that required the consumer to take action. purchasing. In combination with the other techni- This was accon~plished through simple techniques Patent Medicine Newspaper Advertising in Hong Kong, 1945-1969 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021

Figs 4-6. Words-only patent medicine advemsements, Sing Tao Daily, nud-1950s

Figs 7-9. Advert~sen~entsdisplaying the products themselves, Sin2 Tao Daily, mid-1 950s such as listing the variety of ailments that could be ache Powder advertisement [lo], the visual shows the addressed by the product, or expressing optimism that head of a man wrinkling his forehead, a type of facial any difficulty experienced by the consumer could be expression associated with being in pain. A bird that fixed or eliminated by application of the right prod- looks like a woodpecker is facing his upper lefi-hand uct. This 'naming of the deficit' advertising technique side with arrows aiming towards the man. The head- can be seen in an advertisement for Tiger Balm line reads, 'Can you stand a headache?' and the Headache Powder tiom 1954, and another for answer placed under the visual reads, 'Please take Aspro Panadol from 1955. In the Tiger Balm Head- Tiger Balm Headache Powder'. Together the visual Wendy Siuyi Wong

heads in two rows illustrating the occasions for taking the pills. The radiating beam around the pills echo the smiling man at the top. At the top lefi-hand comer, detailed copy gives further lnforrnation to the potential consumer. Thls advertisement illustrates the problem and solution technique that reminds con- sumers that they should buy Aspro to solve the problem next time. Patent medicine advertisements from the Hong Kong sample thus frequently adopted the strategy of Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021 identifying a 'deficit' and then offering the product advertised as the solution to that deficit. Thls prob- lem-solution technique was a simple approach, but one that encouraged consumers to think of various bodily experiences as problems that matched clearly Fig 10. Tiger Balm Headache Powder, Sing Too Daily, 17 with purchasable remedies, thus training them to December 1954 think about acquiring products for any deficit or problem they might experience. Added to this tech- and text provide a problem and solution at the same nique were some more sophisticated associations time. Finally, the double-line border with 'Wing On between products and the positive benefits that they Tong', the manufacturer's name and logo, in the could bring, apart from simply alleviating a physical bottom right-hand comer creates brand identification complaint. Some of these associations were made in and a corporate identity. credible and legitimate terms, but most were either An Aspro Panadol advertisement from 1955 [ll] untrue, unverifiable or at the level of symbolic takes the problem and solution presentation tech- Wage. The following section discusses the most nique a step further by depicting each stage of the important of these techniques. process. Radiating beams shine around a man with a smiling face who is placed in an important position in the top right-hand comer and in contrast, a man The empty promise strategy with a sad face touching his forehead is beside him. Falk and Richards both provide evidence that patent This implies a 'before and after' situation. Under the medicine advertisements made outrageous claims that block of logo type, there is a series of eight small could not possibly be proven or corroborated (but that were also very ficult for government regulators to disprove). Falk refers to unfounded claims as 'empty promises,' and Richards notes that patent medicine advertisers made 'absurd promises'. Adver- tisers wanted to make consumers believe that their products could cure a wider range of ahents more effectively than other similar products, and the claim to have the 'best' cure became a standard strategy. Although there is no evidence of outright swindles in the Hong Kong newspaper samples analysed here, there is some evidence of other misleading techniques of exaggeration and implication. An advertisement from 1948 [12] selling powdered milk for babies features a slumy baby reachmg out towards a can of 'whole milk' in an attempt to touch it, suggesting that he wants to get into the product. A Fig 11. Aspro Panadol, Sing Tao Daily, 23 December 1955 sparkling light beams out from behind and gives the Patent Medicine Newspaper Advertising in Hong Kong, 1945-1969 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021

Fig 12. Golden Flower Powdered Milk, Sing Tao Daily, 2 April 1948 can a glorified connotation. The headline reads: 'Turn the skinny kid into a plump child', implying the power of the product. On the left-hand side is a fat happy baby sitting and playing, indicating that he has been fed the whole-milk product. Owing to the small size of advertisements in the 1950s, there are not many in the sample that used this hdof techque. Most of them were small, and Fig 13. Tit Fai Guo, Sing Tao Daily. 26 August 1949 individual advertisers could not afford the luxury of using advertising space to demonstrate such claims a series of Tiger Balm products. This series of Tiger visually. On a few occasions, the photographic Balm advertisements incorporates traditional Chinese demonstration of a cure can be found, as in an stories that were familiar to the audience. One ex- advertisement &om 1949 for Tit Fai Guo [13], a ample &om 1948 [14] shows three people in tradi- Chinese medicine 'invented' by Dr Kong Pa Chlu tional costume riding a hone-drawn wagon. The text claiming it could cure tuberculosis. This shows the tells the historical story about So Tong Po fiom the 'before and after' pictures of a patient, Yeung Si (Mn Sung Dynasty. So Tong Po was a famous person Yeung) and a letter from her thanking Dr Kong for working for the government, but because of a polit- curing her disease by giving her the medicine. The ical disagreement he was sent away by the emperor to copy text claims to what extent the medicine can the southern part of China. The text goes on to say cure tuberculosis rather than describing its ingredi- ents. Typically, the advertisement did not provide any scientific evidence connecting its curative powers with any known chemical agent or process, which reflects the hct that these kinds of patent medicine advertisements were not governed by the law at that time. As well as this straightforward approach, advertisers creatively adapted some traditional Chinese stories to deliver their promise in a conceptual way. This presentation format is especially popular in advertise- hg 14. Tiger Balm So Tong Po, Sing Tao Daily, 20 August ments for Chinese patent medicines, such as one &om 1948 Wendy Siuyl Wong

attributing various positive qualities to their products and to a life lived with such products. By simply making vague claims about emotions and physical states that could be achieved by their products, advertisers avoided making specific and falsifiable claims about their ability to address specific deficits or symptoms. Patent medicine advertising turned everyday needs and problems into reasons to purchase and apply products, holding out 'immediate gratifica- tion followed by the desire for more immediate Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021 gatifi~ation.'~~Further, in some advertisements the purchase and use of patent medicines was offered as a mark of affluence. For example, Falk4" cites a product that used the slogan 'For ' and claimed to be beneficial for the healthy as well as the sick. Richards4' even quotes examples showing how advertisers selected ordinary phenomena and made them seem like problems or signs of the early stages of Fig 16. Tiger Balm Eight Goddess Cross Sea, Sing Tao Daily, 24 sickness. Because of their use of ordinary 'symptoms' December 1949 to sell preventive medicines, Richards notes that these advertisers had made an important new step in that the climate of the south was so poor in the past, advertising history in that they had found a way to sell and now even though the situation has been medically oriented products to people who were improved, one still needs to watch out. Finally, the completely disease-free by convincing them that text says that the Tiger Balm product is the best products were needed if they were to maintain prevention for any sickness related to weather and their health. Falk makes the same important observa- environment today. In other Tiger Balm advertise- tion, placing emphasis on the shift from negative ments, traditional Chlnese stories or characters such as (deficit) to positive (well-being) in patent medicine the Monkey Kmg from 1948 [I 51 and Eight Goddess advertising. Instead of having a sickness (deficit) that Cross Sea also from 1948 [16] use similar techniques is overcome, the consumer prevents a sickness and as in the So Tong Po story, adapting to accommodate maintains health (well-being). Thus, advertising contemporary product usage. claims to bring these attributes to consumers who The use of false claims is less common in the Hong use the specified products, and consumers can Kong sample than is described in the studies from the develop relationships of identification with the West. This may be in part because the competition goods promised. Once the Hong Kong products was not so fierce in the Hong Kong context, or had established brand-name recognition in the early because Chinese values mitigated against outright lies text-based advertisements, they quickly became more in this context. Whatever the reason, a strategy less elaborate in their visual strateges and in their associa- obviously misleading than 'empty promises' was tions with 'well-being' that could be obtained by the found more commonly in the Hong Kong sample. consumer through the advertised product. This strategy, known as 'positive register', involves Many such advertisements were for products for making unverifiable but not explicitly stated sugges- children and babies. The images of children are tions about the product's effectiveness. idealized, suggesting that the medicine wdl make children healthy and happy. An advertisement for The positive regster Bayer cough syrup from 1963 [17] shows an illus- tration of a girl with her hair nicely combed and Advertisers sought to move beyond the matchmg of a wearing a pretty dress, holdmg her favourite fashion- remedy to a specific deficit. and they did so by able (at the time) black doll and consuming the cough Patent Mechcine Newspaper Advertising in Hong Kong, 1945-1969

medicine advertisements found in the Hong Kong sample. An advertisement for Scott's Emulsion from 1963 [18] shows a boy holding a big bottle of the product and the headline says: 'Protect your children from the harm of disease.' A number of advertisements from the sample also use the positive register in associating the product with certain values not related to the context of usage. The most prominent of these are the 'demon- stration advertisements' in which the visual inclusion Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021 of 'scientific apparatus'42 was fairly common. An advertisement for the Tiger Balm product Ching Fa Shui from 1949 [19] provides the best example of the

Fig 17. Bayer Cough Syrup, Sing Tao Daily, 22 December 1963 'aid of scientific apparatus' technique in the Hong Kong sample. It depicts a factory scene and illustrates syrup. The way this tittle girl is dressed can be the production process for the product being adver- classified as affluent. The advertisement presents a tised. Prominently featured are the machines that lund of 'good' image in which the girl is not only produce the product, including an assembly-line consuming the product happily but also by implica- belt covered with a line of products that have just tion enjoys the good life (with nice clothes and been completed. Similarly, an advertisement for Bat toys)-a way of life scarcely known to most of the Gwa Dahn [20] also reveals the production process, readers of the newspaper who were still struggling to with an enormous set of machine rollers dominating earn a living. the foreground. A third example depicts a scientist Unlike most of the Chinese medicine advertise- surrounded by test tubes, fimnels and beakers filled ments described above that focused primarily on with chemicals, and the viewer can actually see the product identification and filled up every inch with scientific process beginning with this apparatus type and a picture of the product, this advertisement moving lefi and linlung with the product name, is more sophisticated and focuses the reader's atten- Man Gam Yau [21] as a series of tubes spells out tion on the afnuence associated with the product. the characters. These advertisements borrow from the This technique was common in Western patent Western technique of creating a scientific image to

Fig 19. Tlger Balm Chmg Fa Shu~.Sing Tao Darly. 27 March Fig 18. Scott's Emulsion. Sing Tao Daily. 22 December 1963 1949 Wendy Siuyi Wong

Conclusion Patent medicine advertising called attention to and successhdly made real a wide range of deficits, thus opening them to the possibility of being treated or solved with patent medicine commodities. In Richards' terms, patent medicine advertising made the first important step towards 'a re-orientation of representation [of the body] around the fundamental

economic dictates of capitalism.'43 It became, above Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021 all else, a reason to purchase products and a site on which to apply those products. Patent medicine advertisements were particularly important in the history of advertising in Hong Kong, as they were in the West, because they represented the primary site on which the techniques of modem advertising were developed and fiet tried out. Fig 20. Tiger Balm Bat Gwa Dahn. Sing Tao Daily, 1 April 1949 In this study, I have emphasized the ways in which Western techniques were borrowed and promote the traditional Chmese medicine products. In a way, the advertisements educate the viewer to used, not only when the products advertised were Western, but also in the case of Chinese remedies. I accept Western standards, that scientific production creates a valuable and reliable product. argue that during this period consumers in Hong Clearly, positive register advertisements that Kong were being trained through various advertise- ment types to understand the Western modem placed emphasis on the goods and positive comota- advertising language. Patent medicine advertising tions that could be acquired by the consumer through the product were common, and they in particular contributed elements related to the internal, physical and direct needs of the people. were used in advertisements for both Western and The advertisements used the techques of product- Chinese products in the Hong Kong sample. Although the positive regster advertisements usually identification and brand association, naming of focused on everyday life scenes and suggested an deficits, assertion of false claims, and finally the implicit or explicit attribution of goods as the affluent family life or 'good life', others evoked natural benefits of product use, which was acheved connotations of Western values such as scientific through the volume and variety of patent medicine efficacy through their use of both visual and text. advertisements focusing consumer attention on posi- In general, the positive register advertisements use more imagery than the ads that are simple product- tive images and values. Thus, these patent medicines mark the beginning identification examples. Their composition and per- suasive appeal is more complex than those described of the concept of consumption for the purpose of in earlier sections. retaining the basic need of health and gaming phy- siologcal satisfaction when Hong Kong entered the industrial phase in the 1950s. In this study, attention has been drawn to the ways in whch products could enhance productivity or reduce unpleasantness, heightening individual consciousness of products as a means towards personal satisfaction. This accultura- tion to the modem language of advertising prepared the ground for consumers to accept Western con- sumer cultural values in the hture. Investigations of textual analysis of advertising should be continued in Fig 21. Man Kan Yau. Sq Tuo Duily. 14 March 1949 order to document further the relationship between Patent Medicine Newspaper Advertising in Hong Kong, 1945—1969 the history of advertising and the cultural transforma- 17 The Shek Kip Mei fire on Christmas day of 1953 caused tion of Hong Kong. 60,000 people to become homeless overnight. The incident forced the Hong Kong government to change its non-inter- ference policy over housing issues. The first 'low-cost housing Wendy Siuyi Wong estate' was built in 1954 in Shep Kei Mei and also marked die Hong Kong Baptist University beginning of the long-term public housing plan of the Hong Kong, China government. 18 Television was first available for household use in 1957 through wired transmission service by Redifiusion Television Limited (RTV), but did not gain much popularity for several years. Notes During the first few years, television was available only through subscription, which required monthly payment for the service. This article is the revised version of a paper given at the Fourth Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021 Wired subscriptions grew steadily through the early years. Annual Conference of the David C. Lam Institute on 'Asian Television only reached an affluent class of people who could Cultures at the Crossroads: An East—West Dialogue in the New afford to pay for the subscription. The first wireless station, Worid Order', held at the Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Hong Kong Television Broadcasts (TVB), was established in Kong in November 1998. November 1967, and its popularity grew so rapidly that 1 Y. W. Chan, 'The advertising industry in Hong Kong in the television took over die role of dominant advertising medium last quarter century' (in Chinese), in S. N. Lee & W. Y. Leung by 1970, when household penetration of television reached (eds.), Studies on Hong Kong Journalism, Journalism and Com- nearly 50 per cent. munication Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994, pp. 98-127 19 W. Leiss, S. Kline & S. Jhalh/, Social Communication in Advert- ising: Persons, Products and Images of Well-being, Roudedge, 1990, 2 P. Falk, The Consuming Body, Sage, 1994. 2nd edn. 3 T. Richards, The Commodity Culture of Victorian England:20 See G. Z. Ge, History of Chinese Newspapers (in Chinese), Joint Advertising and Spectacle, 1815-1914, Verso, 1990. Publishing, 1955, 3rd edn.; S. N. Lee, 'English and Chinese 4 M. K Yiu, The history of industrial development in Hong newspapers in Hong Kong,' in Wang Kan-mu (ed.), Hong Kong Kong', in Wang Kan-mu (ed), Hong Kong History: New History. New Perspectives (in Chinese), vol. 2, Joint Publishing, Perspectives (in Chinese), vol. 2, Joint Publishing, 1997, 1997, pp. 493-533. pp. 593-615. 21 See Lee, op. cit.; Chan, op. at. 5 See R. Marchand Advertising the American Dream: Making Way22 Chan, op. cit. for Modernity, 1920-1940, University of California Press, 1985; Richards, op. cit.; J. Lears, Fables of Abundance: A Cultural23 Tse, Belk & Zhou, op. cit. History of Advertising in America, Basic Books, 1994. 24 M. H. Sze, 'Mass culture and consumption life,' m Wang Kan- 6 B. Singer, Advertising and Soaety, Addison-Wesley, 1986, p. 18. mu (ed), op. cit., pp 593-615. 7 See Yiu, op. cit.; M. Turner, Made in Hong Kong: A History of25 Chan, op. cit. Export Design m Hong Kong, 1900-1960, Urban Council, 19882. 6 Richards, op. cit; Lean, op. at. 8 Turner, op. cit. 27 Falk, op. at., p. 162. 9 Yiu, op. cit. 28 Richards, op. at 10 Ibid 29 Ibid., p. 170. 11 W. W. Rostow, The Process of Economic Growth, 2nd edn.3,0 R. Williams, 'Advertising: the magic system', in Problems in Clarendon Press, 1960. Materialism and Culture- Selected Essays, Verso, 1980, pp. 170- 12 W. S. Chow, Witness the Fifty Years in Hong Kong (in Chinese), 95 Publishing, 1997. 31 Leiss, Kline &Jhally, op. cit., p. 40. 13 See R. E. Mitchell, Family Life in Urban Hong Kong, Project of32 J. Baudnllard Jean Baudrillard: Selected Writings, Polity Press, the Urban Family Life Survey, 1969, D. Chancy, 'Job satisfac- 1988, p 17. tion and unionization', in K. Hopkins (ed.), Hong Kong: The 33 Richards, op. cit. Industrial Colony, Oxford University Press, 1971, pp. 261-70; T. Ting Chau & S. H. Ng, 'Labour mobility a study of 34 According to some studies on the history of Chinese mediane garment-making and electronics workers', m S. H. Ng & manufacturers, some, such as Chan Lee Chai's Mediane D. Levin (eds), Contemporary Issues in Hong Kong Labour Manufactory, the oldest of its kind, can be traced back at Relations, Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, least 300 years. The production of ready-to-use Chinese 1983, pp. 103-15. medicine pills and oils was started for die convenience of people when travelling. It became more popular from the 14 B. K. P. Leung, Perspectives on Hong Kong Soaety, Oxford mid-nineteendi century, and Chinese patent medicine adver- University Press, 1996, p. 60. tisements were also the main advertising category in newspapers 15 D. Tse, R. W. Belk & N. Zhou, 'Becoming a consumer in the Chinese mainland before the Second World War. Brand society: a longitudinal and cross-cultural content analysis of names such as Wong Lo Kat Medical Tea were initially set up print ads from Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China, in 1840 in Guangzhou, and Pun Ko Sau started as a trademark and ', Journal of Consumer Research, 15 March 1989, in 1929. So the initial production date of some Chinese patent pp. 457-72. medicines can be traced back before the Second World War. 16 Yiu, op. cit. 35 Leiss, Kline & Jhalh/, op. at. p. 240.

225 Wendy Siuyi Wong

36 Ibid. 40 Fait, op. cit. 37 Falk, op. cit., p. 151. 41 Richards, op. at. 38 Ibid. 42 Ibid., p. 240. 39 Richards, op. at., p. 203. 43 Ibid., p. 195. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/jdh/article/13/3/213/406817 by guest on 30 September 2021

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