China's new gig economy: Pretending to see a Rolex exhibition | Following the Yuan
As brands chase traffic KPIs in the slowed economy, a new gig economy has emerged to manufacture attention — one paid attendee at a time.
Two weeks ago, I joined a WeChat group for odd jobs after seeing social media posts about people getting paid to attend Rolex’s Shanghai exhibition.
All posts in this group called “Shanghai Happy Planet Part-Time 2” are for either ‘blowing up venues’ as paid attendees or part-time retail jobs.
I lurked for days until this popped up:
“Task: visiting a renowned luxury watch exhibition
Time: any 10 minutes between 10:00-18:30
Requirement: no restriction, clean appearance
Compensation: 50 yuan the next day (including 10 yuan deposit)”
The gig in description is Swiss watchmaker Rolex’s landmark exhibition in Shanghai, which was run from June 10 to until June 28.
The glitzy exhibition was attended by Chinese celebrities including tennis player Li Na and Director Jia Zhangke, and executives from the HQ to celebrate the centenary of the brand’s first waterproof wristwatch. And alongside them, an unknown number of paid attendees.
