Wang Ma’s “crash” caused public ridicule. How long can “Working People” continue to rely on traffic?

This article deeply analyzes the double "collapse" of the character Wang Ma both on and off the stage, explores the controversy faced by the MCN company Wilderness Culture behind the actor Wang Zhixin, and the complexity of the topic of "working people" in reality. I hope it will help you understand the current Internet cultural phenomenon and the operation of MCN agencies.

Wang Ma, the top-tier actress in short dramas, experienced a double "collapse" both on and off the screen in May.

In the play, Wang Ma, a nanny, had a "stunning transformation" at the Gu family dinner, and netizens questioned whether she had taken away the halo of the male and female protagonists; outside the play, the MCN Wilderness Culture behind Wang Zhixin, who played "Wang Ma", was exposed for its irregular work schedule, no social security during the probation period, and core position salaries of less than 6,000.

Image source: Seven Orangutans Short Video

Since Wang Ma was previously seen as a "mouthpiece for migrant workers" in the skit, the sense of disconnection between the plot and reality turned into accusations of Wang Ma of "backstabbing migrant workers."

On May 26, Wilderness Culture posted two Weibo posts in a row, responding to the claim that "the number of insured people is zero", and announced that it would cancel the two-day weekend system, pay social insurance for employees during the probation period, and increase the minimum wage for employees to 6,000 yuan. On the 28th, Wilderness Culture apologized to employees again for management issues.

MCN's "slipping knees" did not stop the snowball of public opinion from rolling bigger and bigger. On the Internet, the direction of discussion among netizens gradually shifted from "exploiting workers" to "how much money can Wang Ma make?"; Tianyancha, which holds grudges, also took advantage of the popularity and posted two top posts on Xiaohongshu, "The number of insured people in the company is 0, what is the reason?" and "Whose pocket did Wang Ma's money go into?"

When Wang Ma in the play gradually moved towards the domineering culture, Wang Zhixin's domineering image outside the play was fully formed. In the skits, everyone loves to watch the workers angrily scolding "crazy husbands and crazy wives", but in reality, skits are just a traffic business that taps into the public's emotions.

1. In the play: The end of "Wang Ma" is to be a domineering boss

"I feel like the plot is going off the track. Wang Ma is no longer the Wang Ma from the beginning." Mu Yao sighed after watching the latest episode of the "Wang Ma Series".

In her opinion, Wang's mother, who originally played the role of complaining in the skit, became the point of complaint in this episode: the domineering boss Gu Jingchen approved 100 million yuan to host a family banquet, but Wang's mother asked every guest to wear shoe covers because she didn't want to mop the floor, and even slapped a guest who wanted to vomit on the ground on the spot; at the auction, Wang's mother stole the necklaces and bracelets to be auctioned, and even argued with the security guard.

"In the past, it was always the overbearing couple who went crazy, and Wang Ma couldn't stand it anymore, but now Wang Ma has become the one who went crazy for no reason."

Image source: Seven Orangutans Short Video

Another scene that made her feel uncomfortable was that the Gu family dinner was originally the highlight moment for the heroine, but in the end the "stunning dress-up" plot was given to Wang Ma, and the heroine was ridiculed by everyone for her shabby clothes. "It was like Wang Ma took away Nana's halo, and the funny female character's character with a good looks was also very disconnected." Mu Yao felt that Wang Ma, who started out as an anti-domineering president, might end up as another domineering president novel.

In fact, although the current mainstream voice is that Wang Ma got her start by being a "working man's mouthpiece", both inside and outside the play, "Wang Ma" is actually far away from a working man, but closer to the domineering president.

In terms of content, at a time when "rebirth" and "travel through books" are all the rage, the setting of "rebirth as a supporting character in a domineering president's novel" is actually not new. There are also a large number of similar jokes and hot topics on Zhihu, and the traffic generated is sufficient.

The "Wang Ma Series" initially judged the outrageous plots in domineering president literature from the perspective of a nanny, focusing on how a normal person's thinking works in a domineering president's short drama. The loose structure and unclear main line also make this series of videos more like a collection of jokes than a short drama.

In the early plot, the most talked-about scenes among netizens include: the heroine wakes up Wang Ma in the middle of the night to heat up the food for the hero who comes home late, and Wang Ma complains dazedly that she just squinted; the overbearing president asks the heroine whether she loves him or not, and Wang Ma jumps up and down behind him anxiously, begging him to "don't mess with him"; the hero and heroine quarrel, and the heroine kneels in the rain, while Wang Ma holds an umbrella and repeats the fixed quote in despair, "Miss, come in, Miss!"

When Gu Jingchen waved his hand and said, "If you can't cure her, you will all be buried with her", Wang Ma's "Me too?" was a one-to-one replica of Benboerba's confusion when he received the order from the Nine-headed Insect, "Go and get rid of Tang Seng and his disciples."

Image source: Seven Orangutans Short Video

The big shots tossed around repeatedly, and in the end the mess was cleaned up by the workers - the audience saw themselves in Wang Ma, and thus Wang Ma was quickly promoted to "the mouth substitute of the workers" . In the subsequent creations, the seven gorillas also deliberately added such a personality to Wang Ma, often making Wang Ma grit her teeth, "There are really not enough in the class."

However, compared to ordinary workers, Wang Ma does have an extra halo: the nanny is a low-profile character, but she plays the role of the audience judging the crazy husband and wife in the domineering president literature . On this basis, the male and female protagonists are like NPCs with a set of "love programs", and Wang Ma is the airborne complainer.

Therefore, Wang Ma's extraordinary behavior is allowed, such as stealing the jewelry of the master's house, taking lobster and steak from the boss's table, throwing a rag on the boss's head when she doesn't want to work, and the mop in her hand is the only true god, hitting the boss's nose from time to time.

Image source: Seven Orangutans Short Video

Even if we ignore the "combat power" deliberately exaggerated by the short play, Wang Ma, who can recognize Patek Philippe at a glance, is not ordinary. From this point of view, Wang Ma is the real protagonist. Don't forget that "traveling through time and becoming a cannon fodder female supporting role" can also be written into another "female supporting role rises to power".

Regardless of whether it is for the enrichment of the character or the continuation of the content, it is inevitable to add more highlights to Wang Ma.

In addition, the audience could not let go of the domineering boss complex, and automatically added the "Little President Li" character to Butler Zhao, teasing that Wang Ma was the amnesiac young lady of the Li family. The seven gorillas followed suit and filmed related cross-dressing films. It was possible that the "working man" Wang Ma would snatch the halo of the male and female protagonists and usher in her own domineering boss plot.

2. Outside the play: "Wang Ma" is collapsing a very new house

It may be that the image of Wang Ma is too deeply rooted in people's hearts, so when the identity of the "real boss" of Qi Ge Xing was exposed, and the MCN Wilderness Culture behind it implemented a long and short work week system and did not pay social security for employees on probation was exposed, the users' stress reaction of "being stabbed in the back" was so intense.

Although the most popular work is the "Wang Ma Series", Qi Ke Xing's popularity can be traced back to 2021. At that time, she used the daily life in the dormitory as the theme of her creation, often creating popular works with more than one million likes, and achieved a milestone achievement of 5 million fans in one year. In August 2021, Qi Ke Xing also became a hot search on Weibo because of "a sophomore girl born in the 2000s makes 700,000 yuan a month by shooting jokes", and the story of buying a Porsche Cayenne for her father in full was also circulated on the Internet. At present, Qi Ke Xing has more than 50 million fans on the entire network, which can be called the top drama account.

Since they had never been serious workers, Seven Monkeys probably did not anticipate such deep public resentment. Their first response was not rigorous, and they only clarified the "stalk of copying the interviewer" and "providing corresponding labor remuneration for the excess working hours." It was not until public opinion fermented that Wilderness Culture issued an emergency notice. Seven Monkeys also responded through a live broadcast, stating that they would cancel the big and small weeks, increase employees' salaries to 6,000 yuan, and equip staff with Apple computers.

Seven Orangutans Xiaohongshu responded

But when the public's hatred of "capital" was ignited, the MCN's "sliding kneel" did not prevent the further expansion of negative public opinion. Instead, it triggered a chain reaction. For a while, "Wang Ma" became the darling of Weibo's hot searches.

For example, regarding the point that "the number of insured persons in the company is 0", Wilderness Culture sent a lawyer's letter to Tianyancha, which resulted in public ridicule. Tianyancha did not hesitate to take advantage of the popularity and posted 3 Xiaohongshu notes in a row, ushering in a wave of fans. When it was discovered that the company's legal person, financial person, and shareholder were all "He Nana" in the short play, the friendship between the two was also questioned. The "unhealthy trend" short-sleeved shirts listed on Wang Ma's e-commerce platform were also criticized, and China National Radio commented that "Wang Ma is just a role, but it will only take a short time for her to backstab the workers."

At the same time, public opinion began to shift to: "How much money can Wang Ma make?"

Media information shows that in February 2022, Seven Monkeys quoted a price of about 80,000 yuan for a "21-60 second" video, and about 100,000 yuan for a video over 60 seconds; but now, the price of Seven Monkeys' advertising videos under 20 seconds has risen to 450,000 yuan, and the price of advertising videos over 60 seconds is 600,000 yuan.

The business model of the account is also very mature. For example, in "Rebirth: I am a Nanny in the Domineering President's Short Play", Qi Ke Xing received business orders from HBN, Xi Mu Yuan, Qunar APP, Han Shu, and Yong Jie Wu Jian. There are 16 advertisements in the 26 episodes of the plot, which shows that the Wang Ma series has brought considerable profits to MCN. After the income was exposed, the comment area of ​​Qi Ke Xing was flooded with "tax inspections".

The failure in the field of short dramas, which emphasizes emotional value, has also dealt a much greater blow to Seven Monkeys. Although the public knows that short dramas are just a traffic business, when the capitalists' "false empathy" is exposed, the direction of public opinion will be very dangerous.

3. The era of “ordinary audience”

Looking back at the popularity of the Wang Ma series, it is better to say that "Wang Ma" chose the traffic rather than saying that the traffic chose Wang Ma.

In terms of subject matter, both "tyrant" and "anti-tyrant" are hot tracks this year. The former still has a dominant position in short dramas, and the latter is a deconstruction of tyrant literature and is loved by the audience because of its special sense of satisfaction. It is not just Wang Ma who has been up and down in the "anti-tyrant" track. For example, Pai Xiaoxuan's "Rebirth: My Billion-Dollar Engagement with Mr. Gu" and Liu Dayueer's "Funny Girl Travels Through Mary Sue" are both the collision of "funny girl and tyrant literature".

Although there are only eight short episodes, the "Mr. Gu" series has brought huge benefits to Pai Xiaoxuan's team members. The male protagonist "Ge Guangquan" has been promoted from a passerby to an official partner, and his CP with Pai Xiaoxuan is booming. Users often cue Pai Xiaoxuan, "You and Wang Ma are so strong in the domineering CEO race."

Image source: Pai Xiaoxuan's Douyin video

In her collection of essays, The Common Reader, Woolf quoted Johnson, "I am glad to agree with the common readers... The crown of honor in the poetry world will ultimately depend on the common sense of readers untainted by literary prejudice." From the current perspective, we have entered the era of "common audiences", and where the public sentiment is, the traffic is.

The aesthetic tastes of ordinary audiences not only influence the creative tendencies of talents, but also affect public opinion. Specifically, in 2024, the number of celebrities with "emotional collapse" has increased significantly.

The mentality of ordinary audiences is easy to figure out, and it is almost flattened on the Internet. In the past year, "working people" has definitely been a popular topic, and it has brought traffic as soon as it appeared. Whether it is "work smell", "banning bananas" or "crazy man", they can all be related to this topic. The "five risks and one shock" of working people is "going to work with five major risks and fear", and when talking about watches, it is "bosses wear Rolex, and workers wear Excel watches". These hot topics are widely circulated on content platforms.

At the same time, "bringing up the topic of migrant workers can truly resonate with the audience" has become a hypocritical "consensus" of this era. Uncle Baoshi sang in a variety show, "How many square meters is the shared rental house? Who remembers her birthday?" "The migrant workers were completely broken by the rap of the uncle" and became a hot topic on Xiaohongshu; even film and television bloggers have to bring up the emotions of "migrant workers" and commented on a segment in "Joy of Life 2" where the third prince was picky, "How many migrant workers have been eaten by this?" It can be seen that "migrant workers" are indeed bricks.

But "workers make you successful, and workers also make you fail." Former Baidu Vice President Qu Jing said, "I approved my employees' resignation within seconds," and then Dong Mingzhu said, "Workers can resign if they want to relax." The traffic of workers is not so easy to control. If you just "show empathy," it seems that failure is only a matter of time.

Author: Kas Data

Source: WeChat public account: "CaasData (ID: caasdata6)"