[Global Times Special Correspondent Luc] In recent months, many middle-aged and elderly-themed "hot hits" have appeared on the short drama/micro-short drama platform: "Flash Marriage at 50", "Flash Marriage with My Wife is a Rich Family", "50-Year-Old Nanny" "Marry a Rich Family"

[Global Times Special Correspondent Luc] In recent months, there have been many "hot hits" with middle-aged and elderly themes on the short drama/micro-short drama platform: "Flash Marriage at Fifty", "Flash Marriage with My Wife Is a Rich Family", "Fifty" "The Nanny Marries a Rich Family", "When I Turn 50, I Get a Flash Marriage", "The Cleaning Mom Returns"... these "enjoyable dramas" and "sweet pet dramas" targeting middle-aged and elderly audiences have received extremely high views and topic popularity, but at the same time It also caused controversy due to content limitations and charging methods.

For example, "Flash Marriage: My Wife Is a Rich Family", which premiered on August 29, can be said to be one of the representatives of "middle-aged and elderly sweet pet micro-short dramas". The show has a total of 69 episodes, each of which is only 2 minutes long. It quickly captured the target audience with its typical "super boss drama" elements. It was played 500 million times in half a month after it was launched, and it once topped the list of short dramas. The play tells the story of a 58-year-old divorced woman who was kicked out of her home by her evil daughter-in-law and had a flash marriage with the chairman of a large group. The adopted daughter of the chairman turned out to be her long-lost daughter... After experiencing a mean daughter-in-law, a cowardly son, and snobbish in-laws, After that, the kind-hearted heroine finally defeated all the "bad guys" and gained happiness.

"Flash Marriage My Wife Is a Rich Family" poster

With such clichéd plots and characters, many viewers who are accustomed to online articles and cool dramas have become "immune". However, there are also some viewers who enjoy it and are deeply involved in it, even at the cost of it. These "cool points" are paid recharges.

According to iResearch's "2024 China Micro-Short Drama Industry Research Report", people aged 40 to 59 now account for 37.3% of micro-short drama users, and users aged 60 and above account for 12.1%. Data from QuestMobile shows that among the audience of middle-aged and elderly short dramas in March 2024, people aged 46 and above accounted for nearly 40%, and about half of the users spent an average of 1,000 yuan to 1,999 yuan online per month. The crowd base is large, easy to become addicted, and they are willing to spend money, which gives micro-short drama producers and platforms the opportunity to operate commercially. For example, in "Flash Marriage My Wife Is a Rich Family", the first 29 episodes are free to watch. If you want to know what happens after the heroine is bullied If you can "turn over", you have to pay to watch it.

is the so-called "the most enjoyable drama". Once many viewers are "hooked" by the plot, even if they usually live frugally, they will not be able to help but spend money at this time. Under such a business model, the show's paid revenue in just one week exceeded 30 million yuan. Coupled with various advertising placements, the producer could just rely on mass production and count the money, and the business opportunities it seized were just right. It is the information gap that exists in " Silver Economy ".

If "Flash Marriage Wife Is a Rich Family" is about middle-aged and elderly people of similar age seeking spiritual comfort and using " Parental Love" to heal the lack of family care, then the recently popular "Cleaning Mom Wuji Returns" is even more so. A collection of all kinds of bloody plot twists. In the play, the 27-year-old "boss boss" falls in love with the 45-year-old cleaning "aunt". She is even his father's first love and his mother's love rival. The plot is full of twists and turns, twists and turns, and the character is subverted several times. In the end, " "Aunt" is actually the secretly richest man in the world... This type of short drama is full of illogical plots in order to attract viewers to pay for it, but it can still capture a large number of viewers, especially middle-aged and elderly people.

On the one hand, we can see the huge potential of the micro-short drama market to sink. On the other hand, it also reflects the desire of middle-aged and elderly audiences for film and television content, especially spiritual food suitable for their age.