25 November was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. To raise awareness of the cause, British condom and lubricant brand Durex released a special ad in a microdrama format, “Boss, Madam has Called the Police” in collaboration with internet personality and fashion designer Grace Chow (周扬青).
The ad itself subversively reenacts several troupes in the “overbearing CEO” (霸道总裁) genre of microdrama, including “forced love” (强制爱), or (marital) rape and “cold violence” (冷暴力), or emotional abuse, as well as confinement of married women. Ever the self-referential metafiction, Grace Chow, playing herself as the producer of the ads, yells “cut” at each scene before a statement from Durex shows up on the screen with the helpline number, raising awareness that these behaviours are examples of domestic violence.
Earlier this year, Durex sponsored its first-ever microdrama series called Chasing Female Boss with AI. The surreal comedy tells the story of the protagonist who uses a pair of AI spectacles to help him perform at his job and life to win the heart of his female boss (and others). The series itself was a subversive spoof of the genre but the latest ad directly points out the ethical problem with the recent microdrama.
In the meantime, the National Radio and Television Administration has released a notice specifically asking regional authorities to manage and regulate the “overbearing CEO” genre for a “realistic depiction” of the entrepreneurial class. This comes in the context of the increasingly outrageous surreal series aimed at middle-aged and elderly audiences such as 20-year-old CEO Falls in Love with 50-year-old Cleaning Lady and the like.
However, this is not the first time the authorities have tried to regulate microdrama. It would seem that the format will only change in content, but microdrama marketing is far from over. Durex, on the other hand, at the same time pokes fun at microdrama and harnesses its popularity with this ESG-centric ad.
