Image via WikipediaEarlier this month Shanghaiist pointed at some research Anglo-Dutch giant Unilever was doing into the question why Asians do not perceive themselves as smelling - and thus do not purchase Unilever's deodorants to fight it? This was the quote they used:“Asia is a market we have never really cracked. They don’t think they smell, but people everywhere smell”That triggered off many intercultural discussions of a rather personal nature and I decided to investigate. Since nt data are pretty limited, my research has no scientific value, but it might help Unilever to go in the right direction. I have covered the Dutch smell here, this does not say anything about Americans, Africans, Arabs, French or even Britons. I also limited myself to the Shanghainese: more regional research would be needed to compare Chinese from other regions and other Asians.
- Russell Taylor, Unilever -
So, I asked some Shanghainese I knew pretty well whether they perceived me - compared to themselves - as stinking. I got an overwhelming positive response. Yes, I do stink absolutely more. And I must agree, they smell much less or hardly. We have compared armpits and the basic assumption of our Unilever guy that all people stink does not hold, at least not for the Shanghainese.
Why the difference between the Dutch and the Shanghainese? First reaction of the Shanghainese: you sweat much more. There might indeed be a difference in how our bodies work. I remember my first morning on a hot day in July in Shanghai in a room without aircondition and even opening my eyes would cause so much sweating, I thought I would flood away. Shanghainese women despise physicall exercise, but they also sweat less.
Another reason that came up was the difference in diet. One respondent pointed at both cheese and mutton as the reasons for the reason the Dutch, but also the inhabitants of Tibet and Xinjiang smell more according to the Shanghainese. More research into Tibetian and Xinjiang armpits is needed before we can discount this possible culturally biased claim.
For the time being, Unilever might have some real challenges in conquering the market in Shanghai. The Northeast might offer actually more opportunities. On top of that I can only recommend Unilever a U-turn to get the Shanghainese into using more of their body-care products: first let them eat cheese.
10 comments:
I'd rather smell of BO than unwashed private parts and that seeping sickly smell that permeates among Asians.
It's indeed the basic assumption of almost all Shanghainese (and actually most Chinese) that White people are more smelly than Asians. It's widely believed that the Romans invented perfume to cover their body odor. And also, why are Westerners so keen on taking bath/shower every day? It is because they have to. The stereotype that White people are hairy, smelly and have course skin is already imbedded in the Chinese culture, which may date back to the 19th century.
In general, Asians who bathe daily don't seem to smell to me (a white foreigner).
However, Asians who don't bathe frequently smell atrocious. We have some men (usually men don't take care of themselves) in our company who both have horrible body smell, but they also have heinous bad breath! I doubt these guys brush their teeth even a few times a week! I hate talking to one of my managers because his breath smells from all the way from across his desk. He also obviously doesn't wash his hair as it's greasy and lots of dandruff.
Women on the other hand tend to smell much less, however some also don't brush their teeth and therefore they have very stinky breath!!!
Maybe it is a good idea for Unilever to give out free samples of their deo to cab drivers and at subway entrances and bus stations. In my experience, the rides would become much more enjoyable...
I think you are right: Chinese smell less than Westerners. My girlfriend never needs deo, but I do need it for sure! This doesn't mean that Chinese cannot stink. Some guys who don't take a shower for many days will stink terrible! On average though, Chinese seem to smell better. At first I assumed it was because the food, but since I eat the same, this cannot be true.
Breath is really a problem. Many Chinese don't have the habit of taking care of their teeth, let alone visiting the dentist regularly.
lol. seems like a worthwhile topic for ChinaHerald to dig into. conincidently (or not), in a culture lecture, we also discussed about the body smell. one dutch lady pointed out asians might find caucasians with more smell. as she depicted as "sour milk" sometimes. although I think if everybody takes shower often enough, they smell nice, it seems on average asians don't usually have the armbits smell when they get sweaty...but the advice on uniliver to get asians to eat more cheese totally cracks me up...guess holland might think about a bi-product exporting plan :D
HA. Irony to say the least re. the comment that the Chinese believe Westerners innately smell more than they do. I've been in China for close to a year and I've sadly encountered more gross examples of extreme B.O. and halitosis among the native people here compared to anywhere and everywhere my travels have taken me. The reason is simple: many Chinese people (peasants, and upscale people included in this informal evaluation) lack basic hygiene. You need to wash at least every second day and brush your teeth daily people!
Any mammal will emit a foul odor if pathogens and microbes are not regularly washed off. It's only incredible arrogance to believe one's race overcomes basic biology.
I won't get into the state of many of the public washrooms here, but I'll say that I've been almost floored on several occasion by the foul-smelling stink that hit my nostrils.
I am an expat from China and in my experience most of them have really crazy body odor and stinky breath (men and women alike). They don't always change their clothes and they always have something on their teeth. Most of the women here never shave their armpits (and it should be a part of their hygiene, yes?). Most Chinese people are not really that conscious about their hygiene. To the point that you don't wanna go out in summer not because of the weather but because of the stink you'll sniff in the malls, in the cab, at work, etc. The Chinese should know about this!
It's a question of civilization. Young urban animals, 20-30, which relatively better education and better income, and do not smoke. don't smell bad at all.
However, over 60% of people in Shanghai are stinky. Bad breath, greasy hair contribute the most to it. I'd been a subway user for a long time, and the rushhour in summer mornings was just incredibly disgusting.
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