The racy characters on the American TV series Sex and the City are everything that traditional conservative Asian women are not.
Still, the HBO cable TV show has become a smash hit among the region's elite young professionals -- and for retailers and fashion houses, it's become a golden marketing tool to lure the show's affluent viewers.
In recent weeks, HBO has teamed up with fashion and cosmetic companies in Bangkok and Manila to organize a series of fashion shows, modifying the show's title for the name of their exhibit. The first, "Shoes in the City," was held at Bangkok's upmarket Central department store, drawing more than 3,000 people.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"You try to find ways to get the brand, the program, the company out in front of consumers more," said James Marturano, executive vice president of HBO Asia.
"With `Shoes in the City' in Thailand, it was an interesting little tie-in with the show. It's one of those things you take advantage when they come along," he said in a telephone interview from Singapore.
HBO claims a modest membership of 4 million in 19 Asian countries and gives no figures for the audience for Sex and the City.
But the companies riding on the show's popularity realize that its viewers are a powerful segment of consumers -- well-to-do, single, professional women with spare cash to spend, just like their heroines on the show, the four 30-something females in New York unabashed about discussing their sex lives.
In Bangkok, Sex in the City lead actress Sarah Jessica Parker's image is plastered across billboards and buses. Videos of the show have topped the charts in Hong Kong. In tightly controlled Singapore, where the show is banned on TV because of the sexual content, chic women hold parties at home to screen imported videos and DVDs of new episodes.
"It shows a lifestyle of rulebreakers. It is not necessarily the lifestyle of Thai women, but the show is certainly setting trends in Thailand," said Narirat Telan, brand manager for MAC cosmetics, which provided makeup for the "Shoes in the City" models.
In Taiwan, communications consultant Lisa Chiu, 33, said Sex in the City gives her friends an excuse to chat about sex and their own relationships -- subjects they are usually too shy to bring up.
She said she closely watches the fashion tastes of Parker who plays Carrie Bradshaw, a journalist.
"I never thought that I would wear floral-patterned skirts. I like solids, but now when I'm in a Carrie Bradshaw mood, I'll wear them."
The show also has been used as a marketing ploy in Hong Kong, where HBO teamed up with a liquor brand and fashion house for a party. In Manila, HBO and Globe telecommunications company offered cell phone customers Sex in the City updates, trivia and contests via cell phone text messaging.
Rockwell mall in Manila held a three-day shopping event this weekend with stores giving discounts on shoes, bags and lingerie. A photo exhibit and cocktail party was held by a fashion photographer using four models representing the characters of the series.
But even though Asian women may be following the unfolding lives of the Sex in the City characters, its sexual content may be too much for most of the viewers.
"I like the show but I think it'll be hard for Hong Kong Chinese to accept the characters' lifestyles, with so many boyfriends and one-night stands," said Vivian Mak, a Hong Kong public relations agent.
Even in liberal Japan, Tokyu Tourist Corp is having a tough time attracting customers for its "Sex and the City New York tour" vacation. The company's bosses were even reluctant to put brochures at store counters because of concerns the title might hurt Tokyu's image.
"So our promotion hasn't been going so well even within the company," said Akiko Mukaiyama, a Tokyu employee handling the tours.
The show is relegated to late night slots in Muslim-dominated Malaysia and Indonesia. It is not shown in India because of censorship rules and fears of offending conservative Indians, said an official at Turner International, which markets HBO in India.
In Singapore, Esther Wong, a single 30-something, says the rich city-state's ban on the show is just an inconvenience, since she can get imported videos. When she gets a new episode, she has friends -- men and women -- over for a Sex in the City party.
"It's so stupid to ban it. Everyone watches it. I watch it all the time," she said.
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