Hong Kong spends HK$1.3 million on YouTube video to mark handover anniversary, but only nets 4,000 views
- View count for clip included multiple versions of video uploaded to department’s YouTube channel
- Media expert urges authorities to put more effort into making online promotions targeting younger audiences and says government is ‘a bit out of touch’
A one-minute promotional video to mark the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule has only racked up about 4,000 views on the Information Services Department’s YouTube channel, despite authorities spending more than HK$1.3 million (US$165,600) to make the clip.
The department on Tuesday revealed it had spent the sum on the clip, titled “A New Era – Stability. Prosperity. Opportunity”, but it has only attracted 4,137 views so far.
The view count included multiple versions of the video across the department’s YouTube channel.
Published in August, the video features young professionals, children and families expressing hope for the city’s future. The footage was among promotional materials created to mark the anniversary of the handover.
“Stability is the cornerstone of development. Since Hong Kong returned to the motherland 25 years ago, it has encountered all kinds of challenges and remained strong and resilient,” the narrator says.
“Hong Kong will develop rapidly and continue to leverage the advantages of the ‘one country, two systems’,” he adds, referring to the governing principle for the city.
In a written reply to the Legislative Council, the department said the video was the second-most expensive of the nine it produced during the 2022-23 financial year.
The most expensive one was a promotional video ahead of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s maiden policy address in October, which cost HK$1.4 million and netted 804,952 views on YouTube.
The department said such videos were carried on various television channels, but were also uploaded to its YouTube account and various other government social media platforms and websites.
The department told the Post the video was widely broadcast at government premises, shopping centres and public housing estates.
Bruce Lui Ping-kuen, a former journalist and a senior lecturer at Baptist University’s school of communication, suggested authorities put more effort into making online promotions that could reach younger audiences, saying they were “a bit out of touch”.
“Although the promotional video features young people, the style is a bit too similar to their past videos … They may need to think about how to create a more energetic video that can leave a strong impression on the audience,” he said.
“Hong Kong’s future hope and impetus depends on our young people. The government should engage with and reach out to them.”
But Lui said the production cost of the video from August was acceptable given it was a celebration of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule.
“The scale of promotions is usually huge for a five- or 10-year anniversary. Twenty-five years is a quarter of a hundred years, which is quite an event. Based on market price, HK$1 million for a minute is reasonable,” he said.
“The pricing of government promotions is usually higher than private companies as they are able to afford more.”
The media expert said he believed the government’s promotion strategy was largely oriented towards television rather than the internet, which could explain the view count on YouTube.
