Duang

Duang (Mandarin pronunciation: [twáŋ]; pinyin: duāng; Zhuyin Fuhao: ㄉㄨㄤ) is a Chinese neologism that has become a viral meme despite its meaning being unclear. It has become a popular hashtag on Sina Weibo with more than 8 million mentions by the start of March 2015.

History

The word was coined in a notoriously bad 2004 advertisement for Bawang Shampoo in which Jackie Chan says, "...after filming, visual effects are added, the hair – duang! – becomes black, very shiny and very smooth." The advertisement was the subject of a parody published on 20 February 2015 on the Chinese video sharing site Bilibili, featuring footage of Chan remixed to the tune of the viral Chinese song My Skate Shoes (我的滑板鞋). In the video, Chan appears to say that he has no hair at all, with more interjections of "duang": "after a month of special effects, hair is – dua-a-a-ng – still I knew they're fake, that it's due to chemicals. Every day now, I'm adding special effects... added a lot of effects... hair – duang duang duang – is thick and shiny." The parody alludes to a 2010 scandal in which Bawang was accused of having added carcinogenic chemicals to its hair products. Jackie Chan acknowledged the parody by uploading a self-mocking microblog that imitated the sentence structure from the spoof advertisement. He also expressed his gratitude for the public’s attention and his determination to create more movies for his fans in the future. As a result of his optimistic personality and self-mockery, he won over many fans.