Pi Day celebration in HK - an example of globalisation? 在香港的Pi Day活動 - 是全球一體化的例子嗎？

2 years ago, the McDonald's HK first introduced the Pi Day promotion, which I was so delighted - it was a "big fun day" when I studied at high school in England, but I never heard about it in Hong Kong before that. That is why it made me so excited when became able to experience my "childhood memory" in Hong Kong.

香港麥當勞在兩年前的時候第一次推出Pi Day活動，那時候的我是十分高興的 - Pi Day是我在英國讀高中的回憶，那時候老師會搞很多小活動，讓學生記住這個日子及圓周率先3.14。但在這之前，我從沒在香港聽說過Pi Day，因此當時重溫了"兒時回憶"的我十分雀躍。

3 years in a row, the McDonald's HK has kept a good practice of hosting this marketing event. And this year, I am thinking of something further.

到今天，香港麥當勞已經連續三年辦了同樣的活動。我也依然樂於參與其中（事實上我一年才吃一次蘋果批）。與此同時，我還在思考這些有趣的經歷。

In another event, also in 2016 November, suddenly there was overwhelming information on social media that "shared" the news of Black Friday Sales on international shopping site based in Europe. I was so interested and even googled "What is Black Friday Sale" and why it became so popular.

在另一個事件中，剛好也是起源於2016年11月。有一天突然就在社交媒體看到很多關於黑五活動的"分享"，內容都是不同的歐洲網上購物平台在做黑五活動。我那時候很好奇，甚至乎搜索過黑五是什麼 - 我在那天之前沒聽說過這節日呀！

That was when I learned that the Black Friday Sale is actually a long tradition in the U.S. At the same time, I found an interesting article on The Telegraph in 2014 that mentioned that English retailers were refusing the "cultural invasion" of Black Friday from America - while in 2016, Selfridges, one of the largest luxury department stores in Britain, started to host a "Christmas Comes Early" promotion event on the same day as Black Friday.

我是從這件事中得知原來黑五促銷是美國長久以來的傳統。與此同時，我還搜到了一則2014年發表在The Telegraph的文章，內容是英國零售商在拒絕美國透過Black Friday進行"文化侵佔" - 而在2016我搜文章的同時，英國其中一家最大的奢侈品百貨公司，在黑五的那天辦了"Christmas Comes Early"全網促銷活動。

In 2017 around September, I was so tempted to get a handbag from an online shop but I told myself, "calm down and wait, we need not to wait that long until the Christmas sales, but let's get it on Black Friday!", and, at the end, I got the bag at good price during the 11.11 "single day" - a new gimmick of promotion day originated from China in recent years.

到了2017年大概9月的時間，我在歐洲購物平台看中了一個手袋，那時候我是這樣跟自己說的，"忍手！等一下！不用很久的，不需要等到聖誕打折，等到黑五道可以了！"。結果是，我根本不用等那個久，只要忍到雙十一那天，我就以挺不錯的價錢入手了手袋。（雙十一，近年在中國內地興起的折扣噱頭。）

While the celebration of "real festivals" seems are not exchanging that fast (the western countries are still not celebrating CNY; Europe and Eastern countries are not celebrating the Thanksgiving Day, the marketing talents seem to be working hard to "exchange the marketing gimmicks between cultures". Do you consider this "globalisation in marketing" a good thing, wealth-threatening, or a cultural invasion?

在我看來，世界在"真正的節慶"上交流並沒有很快，西方國家依然沒有在過農歷新年；美國以外的國家也沒有十分重視感恩節。但似乎市場上的人才在大力促進在商場的"促銷噱頭文化交流"。不知道大家對這種"市場宣傳中的全球一體化"感覺如何？好事？搶錢的？還是，文化入侵？

If you are interested to view the original articles in The Telegraph, the links are below.

如果有興趣看The Telegraph的原文的話，地址如下。

2014: Why high end British retailers are eschewing Black Friday
2017: Which shops aren't taking part in Black Friday 2017 and why?