Camping gear and pet treats: Chinese internet giants go crazy with mooncake gift boxes

Society & Culture
DJI’s 2022 mooncake gift box. All images from Weibo.

Chinese tech companies take a sense of pride in doing things differently, and the same applies to their design of annual mooncake gift boxes.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

The holiday, also known as the Moon or Mooncake Festival (and normally as 中秋节 zhōngqiūjié in Chinese) takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar (that’s September 10 this year). It is the second most important traditional Chinese holiday after Lunar New Year. The festival symbolizes the autumn harvest and welcomes the Harvest Moon — the full moon closest to the autumn equinox.

In China, the occasion typically involves making paper lanterns, watching lion-dancing performances, having dinner with family and friends, and — probably most famously — giving, receiving, and eating mooncakes.

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The Chinese festive pastry — tender dough encasing a sweet or savory filling, baked and molded into a round or square shape — is a symbol of prosperity and family reunion. It’s also big business, with manufacturers constantly reimagining the delicacy’s flavors, often to mixed reactions. High-end mooncakes presented in lavish, custom-made packaging have been associated with corruption for so long that they became a target in China’s war of graft in recent years.

In China’s tech industry, creating and giving branded mooncake boxes sets to employees and business contacts is an honored tradition during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Although most of these limited-edition mooncakes are not for sale, they are an essential marketing tool for Chinese tech companies as recipients of the freebies often go on social media to gush about innovative designs or special swag included in the gift sets.

We’ve rounded up a list of Chinese tech firms whose mooncakes have caught the eye of Chinese social media users this year:

1. DJI shoots for the moon

Chinese drone-maker DJI, the world leader in civilian drones and creative camera technology, put a modern spin on “moon-viewing,” a staple activity during the Mid-Autumn Festival, with a gift box titled “Fly me to the moon.” Although the mooncakes themselves are nothing out of the ordinary, other items in the box include coffee capsules in the shape of a planet and a set of plastic building blocks that, once put together, resemble the Mavic Pro, DJI’s first foldable drone.

2. Baidu joins China’s camping craze

Once a niche sport for hardcore outdoor enthusiasts, camping has become a national sensation this year, popular among China’s pandemic-fatigued youths who are constantly looking for new ways to socialize and stay healthy. In acknowledgement of the trend, Chinese search engine giant Baidu has a camping-themed mooncake gift box that contains a pop-up canopy, a folding chair, and a picnic blanket.

3. Bytedance says “generosity begets generosity”

The mooncake gift box from Bytedance, the Chinese internet company that owns TikTok, is light on tangible perks — six mooncakes and two tabletop picture frames are all it has. But it’s heavy on branding and messaging. Each box for the individual mooncakes is themed around a meaningful cause. By scanning a QR code inside the box, recipients can find information about a specific project dedicated to a mission, such as historic preservation in rural China and assistive moviegoing.

4. NIO is pet-friendly

They say there are two types of people in this world: pet owners who are so in love with their furry friends that they understand Barbra Streisand’s impulse to clone her dog — and everyone else. With an intention to please both groups, NIO, the high-end Chinese electric vehicle start-up, introduced two versions of its mooncake gift box this year. The first is a standard one with mooncakes for humans. The second has mooncake-shaped pet treats, one chicken and salmon flavored, and the other one beef and tuna.

5. Kuaishou pays tribute to veterans

In collaboration with the Chinese Ministry of Veteran Affairs, China’s second-biggest short video platform Kuaishou seized the occasion to show appreciation to people who have served in the Chinese military. “Everyone has their own way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. Some people have to be quiet guardians for the sake of others’ joy during this time of the year,” the company says in a promotional video about its mooncake gift box this year, which features an electric lantern camp, a steel lunch container, and postcards with messages from Chinese veterans.