Chinese entertainment: Top stars have no holidays

Chapter 74 Shifting the Blame Eastward! (Seeking First Subscription!)

The moment Dailu's command landed.

The three partner online marketing companies launched simultaneously.

Tens of thousands of prepared scripts, edited footage, and live-action吐槽 (tu cao, a type of online commentary/criticism) videos flooded Weibo, Douyin, and Bilibili like a tidal wave.

Websites, Xiaohongshu and other major platforms.

Unlike Jia Shikai's malicious smear campaign against Jiang Baifa, which was filled with fabricated rumors and provoked conflict, this was not a case of Jia Shikai's malicious slander.

The press releases arranged by Dai Lu consisted entirely of genuine negative reviews from ordinary viewers, footage taken by passersby, and heartfelt complaints from movie fans.

It's just that it's been centrally integrated, precisely fermented, and pushed forward in a trendy manner.

This is also where Dai Lu's shrewdness lies: she doesn't use fabricated stories to create hype, but only relies on genuine word-of-mouth to kill people.

Just after 2 p.m., the first related complaint quietly climbed to the bottom of Weibo's trending topics list.

In just ten minutes, the popularity of the term surged exponentially, soaring to the top of the charts at an overwhelming speed and instantly igniting the entire internet.

The first thing to spark public criticism was the most unacceptable and ridiculous scene for countless viewers after watching the movie.

The scene where Ye Hua, played by Yang Yang, makes fancy ramen.

The original setting depicted him as a cold, aloof, and powerful prince of the Celestial Clan, ruling over all the worlds.

However, in the courtyard of Qingqiu, an extremely exaggerated, magical and absurd show of fancy noodle-pulling took place.

In the scene, Ye Hua, dressed in white ancient costume, seriously kneads, pulls, and tosses dough, showing off his skills with his arms flying.

The long silk sleeves fluttered along with the noodles, the movements were flashy and the special effects were piled up so much that it was dazzlingly gorgeous but incredibly awkward.

What should have been a beautiful ancient fantasy romance film was somehow turned into a promotional video for a top-tier Haidilao (a famous hot pot restaurant chain) noodle shop.

This short clip, just over a minute long, went viral online within ten minutes.

Countless video editing bloggers on Douyin and Bilibili quickly created derivative works.

The video features absurdly fast-paced animation, catchy background music, and a barrage of comments.

The hashtag #Three Lives Three Worlds Ten Miles of Ramen# is going viral.

The funniest thing is that Dai Lu even had someone cut in an interview Yang Yang gave before the movie's release.

In an interview, Yang Yang admitted that he even used his years of dance experience when filming this scene.

Netizens and passersby were in stitches, and the comment section was flooded with comments like, "I bought a ticket to see a fantasy epic, not a culinary adventure!"

"Help! Can anyone tell me, does the Celestial Prince have nothing better to do than descend to the mortal realm to make ramen and flirt with girls?"

"This part was so embarrassing I could dig my toes out of my head. It completely lost its elegance and was utterly tacky!"

"Is the director serious? Turning a perfectly respectable deity into a cook is so exaggerated it's cringe-worthy!"

Even more outrageous, netizens uncovered the most ironic details.

Ye Hua went to great lengths, using all sorts of fancy skills to stretch the noodles for a whole minute, adding various special effects and showing off his cool moves.

What was finally served wasn't ramen at all, but just a plain bowl of vegetarian fish soup.

The entire process was a thankless and awkward exercise, becoming the biggest joke of the whole movie.

As the iconic ramen scene went viral, it sparked a public outcry.

The audience's pent-up frustration from watching the movie for five days finally found an outlet to explode.

Countless hidden flaws were exposed one by one and bombarded the entire internet.

Negative reviews that were previously scattered across various film review sections and went unnoticed are now all pushed to the top, and the true word-of-mouth can no longer be concealed.

Five days after its release, the film's Douban rating has already plummeted to 4.2.

Nearly half of the viewers gave it a one-star review, setting a new annual record for the speed at which its reputation collapsed.

The wave of complaints across the internet has completely swept across the web.

Besides the iconic ramen scene that went viral, netizens meticulously analyzed and exposed every flaw in the video.

Liu Yifei's portrayal of Bai Qian's wedding look has been met with fierce criticism.

The enormous and exaggerated pink headdress on her head was bulky and cumbersome, and netizens jokingly called it "a dessert table on her head" and "a pink trumpet flower that has come to life."

Completely lacking the aloof and ethereal aura of the Queen of Qingqiu, it exudes a cheap feel.

The deity Zheyan was jokingly referred to as a "colorful parrot spirit," and the costumes of the various immortals were so gaudy that they completely subverted the original character settings and the aesthetics of the Xianxia genre.

The entire film completely abandons the original storyline and logic, with a chaotic narrative and disjointed pacing, making it feel like an extremely long music video pieced together from scratch.

Love, hate, and grudges come out of nowhere, and the characters' emotional shifts are abrupt and stiff.

Fans of the original work were furious after watching it, calling it a ruined classic. Ordinary viewers were completely confused, unable to understand what the movie was about, and only remembered the awkward special effects and exaggerated acting.

Before its release, the film heavily promoted itself as a top-tier IP, three years in preparation, and featuring big-budget special effects. Pre-sale tickets exceeded 100 million yuan, generating considerable buzz and heightening audience anticipation.

But after actually watching the film, everyone felt utterly deceived.

It's purely relying on the nostalgia of the TV series IP and the fan base of the two lead actors to rake in box office revenue, using a terrible film to fleece casual viewers.

For a time, the movie "Three Lives Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms" dominated the trending topics on various platforms, with its popularity far exceeding that of Jiang Bai, successfully shifting the entire internet's attention.

The Jiang Bai related terms, which were originally firmly in the top ten of the trending searches, began to decline steadily and naturally.

There was no sign of any artificial effort to reduce the trending topic; it was completely replaced by a new, widely discussed topic.

Jiang Bai's popularity has landed smoothly, and the goodwill from the general public has been steadily maintained, perfectly avoiding the backlash from excessive marketing.

But Yang Yang's side is in a terrible state.

Beijing, the backstage lounge of the movie channel recording.

It was just a recording of a program that lasted a little over an hour.

The relaxed and confident atmosphere in the dressing room, which had been there moments before, completely vanished after the recording ended.

Yang Yang, leaning back on the sofa with a serious expression, was constantly receiving text messages and phone notifications on his phone.

The constant stream of trending topics, friend inquiries, and staff reports instantly froze his smile, and his face turned ashen and gloomy in a visible speed.

He stared intently at his phone screen, watching the overwhelming negative reviews, absurd videos, and mocking jokes flooding the internet.

Seeing his name inextricably linked with words like "awkward," "bad movie," and "ramen chef," his heart sank, and a wave of irritability and panic instantly washed over him.

Meanwhile, Jia Shikai, who had just been smugly boasting about his unparalleled ability to manipulate public opinion, had completely lost his composure.

He gripped his phone tightly, his brows furrowed, his face pale, and his eyes filled with panic and helplessness.

Jia Shikai is very good at fan management, creating trending topics, controlling comments in fan circles, and is best at adding the finishing touches in marketing.

However, his biggest weakness lies in crisis management and reputation management.

He simply lacks crisis management skills.

Faced with this nationwide collapse of public opinion and the collective frenzy of ugliness, he completely panicked and lost his composure.

"What's going on?!"

Jia Shikai lowered his voice, his tone tinged with barely concealed panic, and spoke rapidly, "Everything was fine this morning, how come the whole internet suddenly exploded?"

"Who is orchestrating these negative reviews and edits to stir up trouble?"

He quickly refreshed the trending topics page, watching as negative keywords steadily climbed to the top, the popularity impossible to suppress, and his heart pounded wildly.

Prior to this, although the film received poor reviews, it had only generated buzz on a small scale.

Fans' control of comments, big-name fans' whitewashing, and online trolls' efforts to maintain stability are barely enough to suppress public opinion and maintain a semblance of peace.

Everyone assumed that with a large fan base and the nostalgia for the IP, the box office would easily meet the target, and any bad reviews could be gradually absorbed.

There will be no large-scale disaster.

But now, in less than an hour, the situation has completely spiraled out of control.

It's no longer just a few random complaints from passersby, but a massive amount of concentrated material, a unified public opinion, and a large number of genuine negative reviews.

All the goodwill he had built up over the years, the positive reviews of his films, and the general public's perception of Yang Yang collapsed overnight.

Without a doubt, this is a precise, professional, and well-organized team operation.

Jia Shikai reacted instantly.

It's Dailu, it's the cute drama studio's counterattack!

"Suppress the trending topics! Suppress the trending topics immediately!"

Jia Shikai hurriedly gave orders over the phone, his voice frantic, "Contact the platform immediately and suppress the popularity of the negative keywords!"

"Buying online trolls to control online comments, flooding the comments section with positive reviews to cover up negative ones! Contacting influential figures to delete negative posts!"

The instructions were issued swiftly, but the feedback he received left him utterly hopeless.

The platform stated that the popularity of the term was due to natural, widespread public participation.

The number of discussions, views, and interactions is truly explosive. To be honest, Weibo wouldn't be willing to artificially lower the rankings or limit traffic to silence users.

Yang Yang, you're not Alibaba's heir, so why should Weibo give up its popularity and cover up your mouth?

Meanwhile, the online marketing company also stated that it would be very difficult to whitewash the situation under the current circumstances.

As soon as a large number of positive whitewashing articles are released, they are instantly overwhelmed by a massive amount of real negative reviews and complaints from passersby.

It doesn't even make a ripple, and the more you wash it, the darker it gets.

Moreover, there is currently a flood of spontaneously created fan-made content and commentary online, with materials everywhere, making it impossible to delete or control them all.

Jia Shikai was completely dumbfounded.

He excels at subtle maneuvering, using comparisons and attacks, subtly manipulating public opinion to undermine others, and employing the tactic of slowly flattering someone to destroy them.

However, faced with this positive, authentic, and spontaneous wave of positive word-of-mouth, all his methods failed.

Click on any related blog post, and the top-rated comments are all sarcastic.

"Box office success relies on fans locking in screenings, and word-of-mouth is whitewashed by paid online commentators. Are bad movies not allowed to be criticized?"

"The five-star reviews are all from fans, while the one-star reviews are all from genuine passersby. It's obvious who's lying!"

"A film that cost over 400 million yuan to make, the worst film of the year, and audiences aren't allowed to criticize it?"

Liu Yifei is doing a little better; there aren't many people criticizing her, but the reason is unclear for the time being.

But Yang Yang's side is really suffering. From her appearance to her performance to her ridiculous plot, she has been ridiculed from head to toe.

In the lounge, Yang Yang remained silent the entire time, his face ashen.

The "treasure boy" nickname, which Jia Shikai had just managed to clear most of his name from, hasn't been completely forgotten yet.

Now, new memes like "Ramen Man" and "Bad Movie Protagonist" have emerged, with the internet constantly playing with and mocking these terms.

"It must have been Jiang Bai's team!" Yang Yang said through gritted teeth.

Similarly, without any evidence, Yang Yang could immediately assert who did it.

This feud is now truly over.

"If you can't control the hype, just throw out some other sensational news to divert attention!" Jia Shikai finally realized this.

"What breaking news?"

Jia Shikai thought for a moment and said, "Wasn't that member of BIGBANG from South Korea under police investigation for alleged drug use?"

"Let's buy his news to divert attention."

"The old news about Zhang Han dragging an innocent passerby has also been brought up again."

"With 'Wolf Warrior 2' doing so well at the box office, we can't let them get too cocky!"

"Dribble public opinion towards 'Wolf Warrior 2'!"