Selling from Factory
“What’s up homie? This is Tony from LC Signs”
We are Stella and Amy. We share firsthand stories and perspectives that are either lost in translation or simply inaccessible to you. Together, we bridge cultural divides and bring the world a little closer—one post at a time.
In my world, two things went viral this week, and I was excited about both. One was Deepseek, China’s dark-horse large language model, sparking what some are calling a Sputnik moment. Stella and I have a lot to say about Deepseek, but for now, we’ll let the bullet fly a bit longer (讓子彈飛, let the dust settle). The other was Tony from LC Sign.
It was hard to choose between the two topics, but in the end, I went with Tony.
Why? Because for the past two years, he’s been my most-shared Instagram account, satisfying my craving for content that embodies genius marketing, humor, and cultural bridge-building all at once. (Stella: I can vouch for that - Amy shared LC Sign’s Instagram account with me days after we met.) This is my love letter to Tony from LC Sign—a creator who took a seemingly mundane product—custom LED signs—and turned it into a long-running, sensational campaign that connected with audiences around the world.
Discovering Tony
I have a knack for spotting viral content creators before they blow up. Among all my early finds, Tony remains my favorite. Is it weird to say that I felt proud when Tony made it to Asmongold’s channel? It made me genuinely happy that so many people now know about a guy working at a factory in Guangdong. But beyond that, I felt something deeper—pride that Tony had become an unexpected spokesperson for Chinese factory culture, forging direct connections with customers and the broader audience.
I once interned at a footwear factory, thrilled to see firsthand how products made in China were loved overseas. But that excitement wasn’t shared by my factory co-workers. They didn’t know. They had never experienced the final step of the process—the moment when a product meets its end consumer. To them, making products was just work, filled with specs, BoMs (Bills of Materials), and shipping deadlines.
There are millions of workers in China’s manufacturing industry, yet most never get the chance to communicate directly with, let alone sell to, end customers. Tony’s rise is a beautiful anomaly.
Tony and his team at LC Sign swung open the factory doors, letting the world peek inside. His videos—always set against the backdrop of a working factory—felt real, unfiltered. And then, just as unexpectedly, he hit the audience with a Texas accent and great puns. The internet loved it. They want to buy from Tony directly.
Selling from Factory
For decades, Chinese manufacturers have produced for global brands, yet few have successfully built brands of their own. It’s not that they don’t want to—many simply don’t know how. Branding, storytelling, and cultural fluency remain elusive skills on the factory side.
Traditionally, when manufacturers attempt to sell directly overseas, they take two approaches:
Assimilation—Following the local marketing playbook, rarely featuring an Asian spokesperson from the product’s country of origin. Many brands adopt English or European names for their products to obscure their Chinese origins.
Aggressive pricing & logistics—Competing on cost and speed but sacrificing brand identity. The value proposition is mostly: cheaper, faster shipping, better quality.
Even when this works—think Anker or SHEIN—the brand perception often remains transactional rather than aspirational or creative. Chinese companies tend to play it safe when marketing overseas.
Tony’s story proved that a direct-from-factory Chinese brand didn’t have to be generic or “safe” to succeed. He could show up as himself.
And he did.
Tony infused his love for stand-up comedy and rap into his content. He didn’t just sell LED signs—he made people laugh. His Texas persona was just the beginning. He expanded his act with Batman impressions, Trump parodies, Mickey Mouse skits, and even Luffy from One Piece. He spoke to customers in German, Spanish, British English, Indian-accented English, and Japanese-accented English. Each video was an experiment, but Tony gradually became your familiar creator friend—his videos always began with "What’s up, homie? This is Tony." and ended with a call to place orders with LC Sign on WhatsApp.
Yes, LC Sign still upholds the quintessential Chinese value proposition—affordable prices, fast shipping, and good quality. But this time, something has changed. People aren’t just buying for those reasons anymore. They’re buying because Tony made them laugh.
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We are Stella and Amy. We share firsthand stories and perspectives that are either lost in translation or simply inaccessible to you.
