Walovi embraces Chinese zodiac in LNY campaign

For the Spring Festival, the Chinese herbal-tea brand Walovi (王老吉) launched a limited-edition series of cans featuring various Chinese family names in 2021. Walovi not only offered cans with its own family name, Wang, but also included others, such as Li, Zhao and Zhang. Produced by SG Group, an independent agency group, Walovi now extends their campaign to include the Chinese zodiac.

The snake is often associated with length, and Walovi embodies this symbolism to celebrate the Year of the Snake with a long-tail design created using the Chinese character "吉," which means fortune and luck.

These cans can now be found everywhere—from online stores and New Year's Gala celebrations on TV, to interactive mini-programme games on cell phones and subway trains. During the Spring Festival, Walovi launched long-tail subway train ads in cities such as Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Changsha, Kunming, and Nanchang. 

Campaign’s take: Over a decade ago, The Coca-Cola Company launched the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign, which has since been introduced in more than 50 countries worldwide. The campaign involved printing bottles and cans with personalised names to attract younger customers. We wonder if Walovi’s limited-edition cans might have potential for similar reach and significance, especially with this year’s unique long can featuring a snake design. We’re also curious: How long would it take to finish an entire long can?