China tightens regulations for celebrity endorsements

China has announced a new set of guidelines for celebrities endorsing commercial products as the government cracked down on what it called “illegal behaviour” or “lapsed morals” of the popular personalities.

On Monday, seven government organisations – including top regulator, the State Administration for Market Values – said that while the entertainment industry “has played an active role in meeting the diverse cultural needs of the masses and promoting economic growth”, it has also caused harm.

Starting October 31, 2022, “celebrities are not allowed to endorse tobacco products – including e-cigarettes –, after-school tutoring, healthcare, medicine, medical instruments or formula food for special medical purposes,” TechNode reported.

The tight regulation comes barely days after President Xi Jinping secured an unprecedented third term, consolidated his grip on the Communist Party and asked the country’s youth to “abandon the finicky lifestyle and complacent attitude”.

Chinese tabloid Global Times explained the potential reasons as to why the guidelines were needed. Chinese authorities were “banning companies from using performers who have engaged in illegal behaviour or who have lapsed morals, and requiring celebrities to fully know the companies and products they endorse”.

“The frequent occurrence of ‘overturning’ incidents of celebrity advertising endorsements has seriously disrupted the market order and polluted the social atmosphere, which urgently needs to be rectified,” according to Chinese authorities.

The Financial Times sees these regulations as “a new phase in President Xi Jinping’s campaign to overhaul the country’s corporate and social landscape.”

“‘Celebrities should consciously practise socialist core values in their advertising endorsement activities,’ the rules stated. ‘Activities should conform to social morals and traditional virtues,’” the Financial Times reported Chinese authorities as having announced.

The guidelines were jointly issued by seven Chinese government institutions: the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Cyberspace Administration, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Radio and Television Administration, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the China Film Administration.

Global Times gave examples of the types of media personalities that companies should refrain from selecting as spokespeople: “According to the guidelines, companies should boycott celebrities who have lapsed morals or who have engaged in illegal behaviour such as drug addiction, gambling, drunk driving, indecent assault, tax evasion and fraud.”

Global Times referred to the Chinese-Canadian rapper Kris Wu, noting that he had been detained on suspicion of rape in 2021 as an unfit celebrity for endorsements.

Another celebrity that was involved in a scandal was stand-up comedian Li Dan, “who was fined more than 870,000 yuan ($134,347) for an ad for women's underwear that was insulting to women, Beijing authorities announced in August in 2021. They said Li was endorsing a product that he had not used himself.”