A Chinese boy and girl are standing in the playground at a strict Chinese high school. They are surrounded by other teenage students. Everybody has the same boring pale blue-gray school uniforms and hairstyles. The males wear red armbands; the females have red scarves. The guys have bowl cuts; the girls all have the same short bob hairstyles.
The male and female students are not allowed to spend time together in the playground. They are separated by yellow lines on the ground. The boys are on one side while the girls are ten feet away on the other side. Standing on the edge of the lines a boy and a girl gaze at each other.
The boys then march single file back to their classroom; the girls walk by them in the opposite direction. The featured boy and girl smile at each other as they pass in the hall. The girl is at the back of the line just ahead of their strict teacher; she catches the boy smiling at the girl and instantly reprimands him!
Back in their class all the boys sit on the right while all the girls sit on the left. The teacher stands at the front. All the students open their old wooden desks in unison. The girl finds a surprise note from the boy inside on top of her school books. She also sees his special gift: Rework by Alberto VO5.
She turns around to look towards the back of the class where the boy is seated, suspecting he may be the one who gave her the gift. He smiles and nods his head; then she nods with a smirk on her face.
While the desk lid is raised and covers her hair, she dips her finger in the white hair product. The boy puts his desk lid down to reveal a brand new hairstyle. She also has a completely new hairdo. They have both experienced cool new instant makeovers.
The teacher with her hair pulled back in a tight bun is outraged! She immediately stands bolt upright and kicks the rebels out of her classroom, shouting at them while pointing to the door.
As they both walk down the empty hall together, he reaches across towards her to offer his hand. She smiles and takes it. It is another scandalous violation of school rules! The teacher sees the defiant kids and instantly she's after them in hot pursuit. They start running away from her, still holding hands while she runs after them and barks behind them like a dog.
Next they are outside still running together. They go right down the middle of the playground, breaking yet another rule, crossing the male-female boundary in the most rebellious fashion. The teacher is still going after them while the other students are now all intently watching the scene they have created.
The escape continues into the streets and they laugh as they run through the local market.
The ad ends with a picture of several VO5 styling products at the bottom of a school desk with a short caption: "Break the Mould."
This original TV ad was produced in London by Euro RSCG UK, which is the third largest marketing communications group in the UK.
The ad is somewhat controversial. It has not been so controversial that it made the news like some other ads, but there has been some negative reaction online from Chinese people who feel they have been misrepresented and unfairly depicted.
The ad effectively mocks Communist China. It plays up the perception in the West that the Communists are extremely strict, very old-fashioned, boring, and stifling. All the students look the same as if they are soldiers in the army with the same clothes and virtually identical haircuts, even though they are kids. There is gender separation. There is no freedom of expression.
The dip into the hair product is a kind of Tiananmen Square Moment. It is public defiance of established rules and order. The ad calls for students and the public at large to release their inner rebel and do something different with their hair.
The reason the ad works is because it is bold and risky but doesn't go too far. It's not mocking all Chinese people; it's mocking the Chinese Communist system. In a sense the ad teases men and women of all ethnicities and backgrounds by suggesting they are no different from Communists if they lack creativity and don't change their hairstyle.
Very rarely does one see TV ads nowadays where the entire cast is one ethnic group such as Asians. Instead you typically see each major ethnicity represented. But it is actually a testament to how far society has developed in being able to see an ad with one only ethnic group and still see it as very good and totally relevant.
"Break The Mould" is also effective because it is original, memorable, and fun. It creates good feelings even if it is not completely understood by everybody. "I've always loved this advert," one viewer commented, "but I don't know what it is about it."
Most people of any age can identify with the basic concept of teen rebellion and think back to the time when they first broke the rules or found their voice. They recall the time when they had their hair styled one way or wore an outfit that neither their mother nor teacher would allow.
The 30-second advertisement intertwines three of the most relevant themes for its primary teen demographic: romance, rebellion, and fashion. It has enough emotion (longing for romance); drama (angry teacher, running kids); and original content (Chinese classroom) to get your attention and make you think.
