The uncanny popularity of 'Tube Crush' in China

Sometimes I come across a quirky story in the press and I just want to share it with my readers. Today's quirky story is about the phenomenal popularity of a website called 'Tube Crush' in China. For those of you not familiar with Tube Crush, it's basically people taking photos of good looking guys using London's underground train network (otherwise known as the metro, the underground, the subway, the MRT, the MTR depending on what country you are in) and posting them online. Allow me to analyze the uncanny popularity of Tube Crush in China. According to Stephen Motion, the site's co-founder. "The third biggest source of traffic to our website is actually from China," The website isn't blocked in China. It's fully available in all of the cities. We see most traffic coming from Guangzhou and Shanghai." There are no women on this site, so why is this site so incredibly popular in China then?

Can you find beautiful men on the tube?

1. Filtered content vs random content

Yes, it should come as no surprise that many of the men on Tube Crush are good looking, but do bear in mind that this website is created to allow users to take photos of men they fancy - it is not a "name and shame" website for people to post pictures of the ugliest men they find on the tube. This naturally creates an impression that the men who use London Underground are generally more good looking, when really, that is not the case. Imagine if we had CCTV on the trains and they captured the images of random male commuters - old, young, fat, thin, black, white - just anyone as long as they are male, that would result in a cohort of far less good looking men in the sample. Of course, what I am stating is just common sense and is by no means rocket science - but for the fans in China, they're not looking for reality, they're looking for a bit of escapism, a bit of silly fun on the internet. So they are more than happy to allow this selection process filter out the less attractive men from the website.

2. It is authentic: it is not some fantasy created by a marketing company.

There is something about the appeal of a website like this which features real people taking the train. Sure we can pick up a fashion magazine and see loads of immaculately groomed models posing in the most glamorous haute couture, but we all know that isn't real. Take this ad I did for Airbus last year: you know it is an ad, you know I am a model, you know these photos were taken in a studio and not actually on an aeroplane or airport. You do know we must have taken loads of photos during the shoot just to get that one perfect shot. In contrast, seeing a photo taken by someone on a train brings a sense of reality to the experience of seeing that photo: you know that the handsome man in the photo is a real person, actually on the train, possibly on his way to work and he is probably not even posing for the photo. And if he can look so very good under such circumstances, then he must be genuinely good looking.

Does it bother you if this man is a model posing for a photo?

In any case, there are so many apps these days which allow people to edit their pictures on their smart phones before they even upload it to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Beyonce made the headlines when she doctored her photos to make her thighs look thinner. With this technology available to anyone on a smart phone, people can spend ages trying to get the perfect selfie before uploading it to social media as if it was taken on a whim. I know I was guilty of that when I was in Romania.Thus with the voyeurism comes something refreshingly honest about the integrity of these photos - these guys are not even aware that they are being photographed, they're just minding their own business and there is a kind of cool, subtle, understated charm to these photos.

3. Dressing up for work vs the legacy of communism.

There is also a cultural aspect to this story: In China, despite the fact that they have now had almost 30 years of capitalism, there is still the legacy of communism which impacts on the way people dress - particularly with the older generation. Back in the communist days, there was almost a standard uniform for men - the famous Mao jacket which everyone wore whether they were a government official or a train driver. Ironically, it still seems to be in fashion in North Korea, but I digress. In such an environment, clothes were functional - it was meant to serve a purpose, such as keeping you warm during winter or allow your arms to move freely as you operated a machine in a factory. Trying to be fancy or flamboyant with fashion was seen as a decadent, Western social ill - it was a waste of time and a sign of vanity in communist China. It was something to be frowned upon and disapproved and that attitude still persists today.

Chinese fashions from Mao's era.

Although it is rare to spot men wearing the Mao jacket these days in China, that attitude towards fashion is still deeply ingrained in the Chinese mindset. Take a simple item like the necktie - what function does the tie function? It is purely decorative, it doesn't hold the shirt together, it doesn't provide warmth for the neck like a scarf, a man wouldn't appear indecent without it. Under-dressed perhaps, but not indecent.

Thus even as rich Chinese men today have plenty of disposable income to spend on expensive clothes, they still tend to dress down and you might have trouble differentiating the CEO of the company from the factory workers he employs - well, not until the CEO gets into his Lexus. Status symbols for the rich Chinese men tend to be items like expensive cars, watches, pens, bags, perhaps sunglasses or shoes - but not clothes per se. Perhaps that may change in a generation or two, but not in the near future. Thus your average Chinese man is very poorly dressed compared to his western counterpart and if a Chinese woman is looking for a well dressed knight in shining armour, well, it is no surprise that she is turning to London instead of Beijing and this website is giving her exactly what she is looking for.

What purpose does the necktie serve, if any?

Let's contrast this to the decadent West where we have never ever embraced the values of socialism or communism. In some companies, it is requirement to dress up smartly for work especially if you are in a customer facing role. When you are representing your company, you are often obliged to appear smartly dressed and well groomed. By contrast, what is considered a decadent waste in China is a basic requirement for many in the West. But isn't this part of the reason why London men look more attractive - the culture here simply requires them to make a far greater effort to dress up nicely for work (whether they like it or not). Our social norms in the UK when it comes to fashion are a far cry from China, the different mindsets are still many worlds apart in this aspect.

Since the audience of Tube Crush is primary female with some gay men, the photos tend to favour men who have made an effort to present themselves nicely to the public. Now it need not necessarily mean formally dressed men heading to the office in a suit and tie, but it does mean men who have put some consideration into their image and their fashion choices. Think about how a man is obliged to make an effort to look good for a special occasion, like a wedding or a job interview - anyone can make themselves look more attractive if they simply take the time and effort to groom themselves and dress up nicely. Much of this boils down to whether or not you have a good enough reason to want to dress yourself up smartly before you leave the house in the morning and a man with a mission always appeals far more than the "it's Sunday morning and I'm just popping out to get a pint of milk from the corner shop" look.

4. The influence of British media

As yes, the British media - TV programmes, films, pop music - so much of that has been selling a certain image of what it means to be a British man to the rest of the world. The most iconic British male figure is James Bond of course and he has a certain amount of class, style and sophistication, always the man with a mission to save the world from some evil villain. Then you have the highly popular Downton Abbey, which sells a vision of Britain from a bygone era, a time where people actually dressed formally for dinner on a daily basis, where servants wore such formal uniforms. Then you have popular British singers from David Bowie to Sting to George Michael to Will Young who always been immaculately clothed on stage, in their music videos and in public to sell the image of the iconic superstar musician. Does the British media focus on the less glamorous, less interesting and less attractive men in our midst? The simple answer is no, it doesn't. This is the entertainment industry after all!

This is very much epitomized by a group of people I pass regularly when I walk to my local supermarket. There is quite a posh boutique hotel with a popular restaurant called the Soho Hotel. As you can imagine, there is a mix of staff in the hotel which can be divided into two categories: those who are regularly facing the guests in a service capacity (such as the receptionist at the front desk, the concierge, the waiters in the restaurants) and those who work behind the scenes and usually never have to face any of the guests (such as those involved in food preparation in the kitchens, those working in the laundry room and those handling administrative tasks in the office). Needless to say, in such a posh hotel, those who are in a service capacity are always very smartly dressed whilst those who do not need to face the guests are usually not, especially if they are doing some form of manual labour in the hotel. Now the staff congregate in a little alley way called Flaxman Court to take their smoke breaks as it is illegal to smoke within the premises of the hotel. Away in this discrete little alleyway, they can smoke in peace - the guests will not see them smoking there.

When I spot of group of smokers from that hotel, I can easily differentiate those who are in a guest-facing capacity and those who do not have to face the guests at all. Now the British media is quite selective in this process, the characters presented are the more attractive men, not the uglier or plainer ones. Why? Because one of the key aims of the media is to entertain and the audience would much rather see beautiful, attractive and well dressed people whilst they have their hour or two in front of the TV or at the cinema; such has been the expectations of the entertainment industry over the years and that is the British media that China has been consuming. Thus Tube Crush merely presents an image that conforms to what the Chinese already know about Britain from their consumption of British media.

5. The users are responsible for driving the content.

Finally, these men featured on Tube Crush are not some celebrities far away in their ivory towers - these are members of the public on the train. This makes them accessible and easy to photograph, the users of the website get to decide whom they choose to photograph, whom they upload onto the website and how they react to the photos uploaded. Thus this creates a very interactive experience for the users of the website, they are not just passive consumers but can choose to be as involved in producing and shaping the content as well. Now contrast that to the fans of a famous singer like Katy Perry, sure you could follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You could watch all her videos on Youtube. But could you ever possibly influence Katy Perry in any way? Get real. No way, you could try to send her Tweets, leave her comments on Facebook or Youtube but realistically, the best you could do is get into arguments with her other fans. Your consumption of the Katy Perry experience is always going to be a very passive one.

This is why some people get attracted to more interactive social media experiences such as Tube Crush where they have a far less passive experience, where they are in the driving seat when it comes to the content of the website. As for the fans of Tube Crush in China, okay their experience is limited because they are not actually in London, so they cannot take any photos of good looking guys on the tube in London. But at the very least, they get to leave comments and share their favourite photos from the website, boosting the popularity of their favourite photos. It is still a far more interactive social media experience than they will ever get with someone like Katy Perry.

So there you go, that's my take on the situation. I think Tube Crush is a bit of innocent fun, just don't get your hopes up when you do finally use public transport in London. You're going to get a random mix of people on any train you get. Please let me know what you think about this story in the comments section below. Many thanks for reading!

Here's another beautiful British man for you: Beckham.