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How did you tell your Chinese fans that you love them this auspicious week?

There is an excellent vlogger that The DAIMANI Journal recommends who only started recently but in this 3-minute clip she explains the web-driven phenomenon surrounding May 20. [And May 21, but more of that later.]

In short May 20 is an auspicious date in China, now known as ‘I Love You Day’.

Why?

Because the 5 and 20 (May 20) is pronounced in Chinese as ‘Wu er ling’ 五二零, which sounds similar to ‘Wo ai ni’, meaning ‘I Love You’  我爱你.

[Not to confuse matters, but China already has a traditional Chinese lovers’ day, qixi, (七夕) which is set by lunar calendar, and also enthusiastically celebrates Valentine’s Day on February 14.]

Man dressed as sperm proposes to his girlfiend, pink balloons
May 20 was certainly a lucky day for this Hubei man who dressed up as a giant sperm in order to ask his girlfriend to marry him. Even more amazingly, the girlfriend, who worked at a nurse, said yes.

If anything distinguishes the 520 concept from the other celebrations of love it is its novelty. The people who take 520 most seriously are the country’s ‘netizens’, all 800 million-plus of them, 98% of them accessing the internet via their mobile phones. In China, February 14 is also considered more appropriate for couples in an existing relationship, whereas 520 is all about overcoming that nervousness and finally admitting those I Love You feelings.

According to China Internet Watch, ‘The age of the people who pursue 520 day – online Valentine’s Day is mostly under 30 years old. They are easy to accept new things. Most of their free time is on the Internet.’

That facility with modern technology, and therefore an openness towards exciting brands and new experiences, is why many global sports teams and leagues, with the most acute understanding of Chinese purchasing trends, take 520 so seriously.

The good people at Mailman Group have cast their eyes over some of this week’s most creative 520 concepts. Please remember, these are H5 formats, the mobile versions of websites designed to be opened in mobile browsers.

  • PSG launched a choose-your-own-adventure H5 game for their Chinese supporters, enabled fans to script their own storyline and fall in love on 520.
  • Tottenham Hotspur developed a new H5 channel enabling their fans to share their messages of love with their favourite players. The messages were captured and turned into social content.
  • Chelsea launched an H5 game where fans compete to ‘win’ the most number of hearts from players, while sharing their story of how they fell in love with the club.
  • NHL produced a heart-shaped graphic featuring pictures of some of the league’s most-loved players.
  • MLB encouraged all sports fans to express their love to their teammates, coaches, even opponents, or share their most memorable moments of ‘brotherhood’ from any sport.
  • LA Lakers delivered a campaign for fans to submit love letters to the Lakers highlighting their passion for the team.

To add a further wrinkle to all of this, the love celebration actually spans both May 20 and May 21. Both are phonetically similar as ‘I (5) love (2) you (0/1)’ in Chinese.

How it works is as follows: Men express ‘520’ (I love you) to their wife, girlfriend or prospective love on May 20. May 21 is the date to get the answer. The object of the affection replies to the husband, boyfriend or suitor with the message ‘521’ to indicate ‘I am willing’ and ‘I love you.’

So now you know.

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Charlie Charters is a former rugby union official and sports marketing executive turned thriller writer whose debut book Bolt Action was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2010.
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