Special Report: A Branding Fail for China's Sinovac

Today's post is by Corona-zona Senior Southeast Asia Correspondent PBR

Alright folks! Keeping it tidy? Still here, stuck on a tiny island where nature is creaking at the joints because folk are trapped. My wife maintains that the cupboard I am using as an office smells of teenage boy.

I'd like to take a different angle from all the excellent posts from other Senior Foreign Correspondents that have been featured here. Let’s talk about branding. 

Branding is something I know little about, bar the Pepsi Challenge back in the day. By the way, Coke is the way to go. Pepsi is foul. But—and I am not sponsored in any way—my plug for a soda is Irn-Bru. Look out for it since I suspect you have time on your hands. It outsells Coke in Scotland. And rightfully so because it is awesome.

Ah, sorry, I digress. Back to branding. Countries have been trying to brand themselves for a fair while. Thanks to such measures we get terms like sportswashing—here’s looking at you Qatar. Vaccines are a big part of China's branding efforts.

There are two vaccines approved for use in Singapore right now, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. I just got my first Pfizer shot yesterday. I'm feeling fine, though I keep hearing instructions from Bill Gates in my head. So far I've been able to ignore him, but maybe that bespectacled evil genius will turn it up to 11 once I get the second jab. We shall see. 

The third option, which Singapore has purchased, but has yet to approve for use, is the Chinese-produced vaccine called Sinovac.

What is interesting about Sinovac is how its impending use in Singapore has been—to put it mildly—poorly received. Here are some examples of the visceral reaction to its possible deployment:

  • From a computer hardware forum:  
    • "Can only jab those prc trash and ccp lovers with this vaccine please"
    • "Winnie the PU will say it is backed by 5000 years of Pu dynasty medicine!" (Winnie the Pooh is a derogatory nickname for Xi Jinping)
    • "If I'm not offered choice and may potentially be administered a Sinovac I would rather not go for vaccination"
  • From a car forum:
    • "Keeping finger crossed not to get it."
    • "yeah, pls delay. i have an early march vaccine appt, and i certainly hope NOT to get this. [laugh]"
    • "But I'll tell you one thing. If it's for my wife and son (who would belong to the "general public") group, I will NOT be encouraging them to go with Sinovac if that's the only option remaining. "

You know things are not going well for your national brand when folk on computer hardware and car forums are talking about how much they don’t want to use your vaccine. These image issues show that Brand China and its vaccine diplomacy are not working out. 

It's gotten so bad that Chinese have resorted to coercion: People must have not just any vaccine but a Chinese vaccine before traveling to the country. Another awesome look for their brand!

This goes beyond discussions decades ago about whether you should buy a Japanese car. There appears to be a deep distrust of China. 

Nothing says "I don’t think you're cool" like saying "I don’t want anything you produce inside my body."

 Image by Corona-zona


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