This China Mobile ad takes a page straight out of Tom Doctoroff’s China marketing playbook Billions: Sure, it’s pretty maudlin, but it appeals directly to a couple of key things, like the Confucian value of filial piety, the aspirational success story of the country girl made good in the big city, and of course the chasm-of-a-generation-gap that most young urban Chinese have grown so familiar with through the last quarter-century of reform & opening — we all recognize the tech-dependent youngster and her highly traditional parent.

The first voice-over is the aging mother in some rural area, who says “My daughter bought me a mobile phone.” The daughter then says, “I only go home once a year, but I call every day. Often no one answers the land line, so the mobile is more convenient.” The mother says, “Once I went out and forgot my phone. She was worried sick.” “Hello,” the old lady says, answering the phone. “Hello, Ma? You didn’t answer the phone! ” says the anxious daughter. “I went out to buy some vegetables,” says Ma. “I called many times,” says the Chuppie girl.

“Aiya!,” sighs the old woman. “You can’t live without your mobile phone?”

“It’s not that I can’t be without my mobile,” answers her daughter, “It’s that I can’t be without you.” Awwww! Just hits you right there, doesn’t it?