Blessings from African people holding up their cards! Zero cost profit, hire agents!

Blessings from African real people holding up cards: the excitement and controversy of crossing mountains and seas

You must have come across such a scene on social media: African people holding signs filled with words, using accented Chinese to send blessings to the camera or help promote products. This exotic and fresh form has caused a lot of heat and discussion on the internet.

From accidental popularity to the business chain

The origin of this form can be traced back to the 2015 Tianjin explosion, when a Chinese person in Africa asked local children to hold up an A4 paper with the words "Tianjin, come on!" and take photos. After the photos were posted, they attracted a lot of attention, and later people expressed their desire to customize similar content. This form gradually became a business. Later on, this business gradually developed into a complete chain:

Domestic merchants or agents accept orders on e-commerce and social media platforms, and determine the content and form of blessings based on customer needs, such as photos or videos, children or adults

Connect with photographers in Africa and have them find local people to complete the shooting

After the shooting is completed, the content will be sent to the client, and the entire process is usually completed within 1 to 4 days

The price of this service also has different levels, ranging from photos costing tens of yuan to videos costing hundreds of yuan. You can also choose different themes, such as African drum performances, distinctive clothing styles, etc

Two voices behind the heat

This form can quickly become popular because it meets the needs of many people: for those who place orders, this exotic blessing is fresh and special, and is very suitable as a gift or promotional material; For the African participants in the filming, this is also a source of income that can subsidize their families. Some photographers have stated that the participating children can earn around 35 yuan per day, which is already higher than the daily income of many adults in the local area. But at the same time, this project has also sparked many voices of doubt:

Compliance issue: If this type of video is used for commercial promotion, it belongs to advertising content. Many videos may contain extreme words such as "highest level" and "best", or inappropriate content, which violates the provisions of the Advertising Law

Ethical issue: If minors are involved in the filming, even with the consent of their guardians, some people believe that this is using children for profit, and some children receive very little compensation compared to the profit of the entire project

The issue of portrait rights: Some argue that without a clear agreement, such filming and dissemination may infringe upon the photographer's portrait rights

Current development

The popularity of this project has declined somewhat now. On the one hand, it is because the form is relatively simple, which makes it easy for people to experience aesthetic fatigue. On the other hand, due to related controversies, e-commerce platforms have already taken down related products. However, it has also undergone new changes, such as expanding its live action card raising services to other countries, and some people have moved this project to overseas social platforms, relying on TikTok's traffic to do business overseas.