Tencent Spring Festival Ad that brought overseas Chinese to tears

This advertisement by Tencent was broadcasted during the Spring Festival Gala, which is one of the most expensive air times on Chinese television. The familiar story is something a lot of Chinese families go through and has moved thousands of overseas Chinese students to tears.

The 2-minute long ad of Tencent QQ, China’s most popular instant messenger with 636.6 million active accounts, was aired primetime during China’s biggest event – the Spring Festival. A few years back, it would have been unthinkable to air an advertisement this long during China’s biggest festival but this is the digital age and we’re talking about the world’s biggest Internet population at 457 million. Interestingly, China and the World shares:

The video spread like a wild-fire among the oversea Chinese communities because it tells the typical story of a young Chinese with a “dream”; prep hard for the exam; wave goodbye to family in the airport; pursue study at a top American University; get a job in a big American city. Last year alone,128,000 Chinese students came to the U.S., pursuing more or less the same dream. They make up of the largest percentage (nearly 18%) of the international student body in the U.S..

Well done, Tencent. Hats off for this campaign, it is truly touching.