Thousands of Chinese social media users have started using images of US celebrity Kris Jenner as their profile photos in hopes it will bring them success and good fortune.
Jenner, the “momager” of the Kardashian family and executive producer of their reality show, is extremely popular in China and nicknamed the “Queen Mother”.
It’s unclear how the trend started, but it appears to have gone viral over the past weekend.
A 22-year-old in southern China’s Guangdong province, who only gave her first name Skye, was among those who replaced her profile picture on Chinese social media platform RedNote with Jenner.
She said she hoped it would bring her a good outcome from her gym training.
Chinese social media user Skye changed her profile photo on RedNote to an AI-generated image of Kris Jenner. (Supplied: RedNote)
She used AI to create an avatar with Jenner’s face and a muscular upper body and also shared the image in a post on RedNote.
“People are all creating and sharing customised Kris on RedNote,” she told the ABC.
“People admire her wealth, and everyone’s just looking for good luck.Â
“I’ve been watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians for a few years.Â
“She [Kris Jenner] has a very feminine personality, so I think creating an image of her with big muscles will leave a sense of contrast and is quite funny.
“I made this one for myself and others who might want it.”
In three days, more than 700 people liked her picture with dozens of people commenting to thank her and starting to use the same Kris Jenner picture.
‘Redefining themselves’Keeping up with the Kardashians ending
Pan Wang, an associate professor in Chinese and Asian studies at UNSW, said Kris Jenner wasn’t the first celebrity to be used in the young generation’s social avatars.
Dr Wang said women sometimes replaced their profile photos with images of female Chinese actors.
“Through redefining one’s image, they are redefining the value and existence of themselves,” she said.
“By replacing their head shots with idols of the generation, often an idealised image of a woman, people will gain power and confidence through the attention that comes with the image.”
Kris Jenner is known as the “Queen Mother” in China. (Reuters: Danny Moloshok)
In the case of Jenner, Dr Wang suggested it was also a process of sinicisation, or assimilating into Chinese culture.
“In some of the pictures, she is addressed like a Chinese empress. In some others, she is against the backdrop of a picture of Shanghai or a Chinese national flag,” Dr Wang said.
“Through localisation, people are turning a foreign idol into a Chinese cultural icon.
“They would be able to gain a group identity through sharing admiration for their idol and the process of reshaping her image.”
‘A form of emotional support’
Another RedNote user, Rao Yuting, is using a picture of Kris Jenner reading books in her profile.
‘Mixed feelings’ about a viral trend embracing Chinese culture
Ms Rao posted her new head shot and said she hoped that she could pass the written exam of the national public servants’ selection in April.
“My friend got a good job offer after adopting Kris’s image in their social profile,” she told the ABC.
“So I changed mine too.
“I think young people these days are into mysticism — not just out of superstition, but more seeking for a form of emotional support.
“Many are wearing the image to hint to themselves, but I don’t think in fact it’s going to change things much.
“I did hear others saying good news came after they changed their avatars, but nothing happened to me yet.”
AI-generated images of Kris Jenner posted on Chinese social media. (Supplied: RedNote)
Chinese beauty blogger Marcelo Wang, who also changed his profile picture to Kris Jenner, last week posted a video about the trend on TikTok, which had 307,000 likes on the platform.
Jenner herself “liked” and commented on Mr Wang’s video on Sunday.
“You’re doing amazing, sweetie!!!!” she said in a comment to the post.
Many of those who commented on Mr Wang’s video had also changed their TikTok avatars to Kris Jenner.