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If you don't recognize the name "Shen Yun", you probably recognize the ad. You see a lot of them in the city, particularly this time of year: Advertisements on buses, on the subways, and on billboards.
But most of all, they're on posters found on the walls and windows of businesses around the city.
The "Mornings On 1" team asked around the newsroom if anybody sees a Shen Yun poster around the city, snap a picture.
They've been spotted everywhere from bodegas to pizzerias, laundromats, liquor stores, supermarkets, restaurants, hair salons — they're ubiquitous.
A lot of New Yorkers are wondering, what is this?
The short answer: Shen Yun is a music and dance performance playing at Lincoln Center this month and again in March.
You may have seen the commercials airing on "Mornings On 1".
On the surface, it's a play about the history of China. But there's also more going on behind the scenes.
Shen Yun is associated with a religious group known as Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa that originated in China.
The group is strongly persecuted by the Chinese government - it's illegal to practice Falun Gong in China.
As such, Falun Gong practitioners outside of China often speak out against the Chinese Communist Party.
"They came to political prominence in China in the late 1990s by staging a lot of protests against the ruling communist party. The party cracked down very severely, a lot of the members went underground, a lot of them left the country. A little bit after that, they founded media groups in the United States," explained Isaac Stone Fish, a Senior Fellow at the Asia Society.
It was 2006 when Falun Gong practitioners here in the city founded Shen Yun Performing Arts.
The show is marketed as being about Chinese history, but it also has scenes that promote Falun Gong and criticize the Chinese government.
Audiences that come out to see the show aren't always aware of the religious and political message.
"I remember sitting next to an older couple who had come for the martial arts and the singing and dancing, and were just very confused by all of the talk of the red beast that was menacing China," Stone Fish said.
Shen Yun never responded to NY1's requests for comment on this story, but the FAQ page on the show's website does say that Shen Yun's artists are Falun Gong practicioners, and that it serves as an inspiration for the performances.
It also says that every year, at least one scene of the show is directly related to Falun Gong.
However that isn't very clear from the advertising.
Here's something else interesting. A recent copy of the Epoch Times, which is a newspaper here in the city associated with Falun Gong, features an article about Donald Trump on the front page, along with a big ad for Shen Yun below the fold.
But these are paid advertisements, it still doesn't explain how their posters end up in practically every shop window.
One possible explanation is guerilla marketing.
Falun Gong membership in the city is estimated in the thousands.
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/mornings-on-1/2019/01/11/a-look-at-what-is-behind-shen-yun
But most of all, they're on posters found on the walls and windows of businesses around the city.
The "Mornings On 1" team asked around the newsroom if anybody sees a Shen Yun poster around the city, snap a picture.
They've been spotted everywhere from bodegas to pizzerias, laundromats, liquor stores, supermarkets, restaurants, hair salons — they're ubiquitous.
A lot of New Yorkers are wondering, what is this?
The short answer: Shen Yun is a music and dance performance playing at Lincoln Center this month and again in March.
You may have seen the commercials airing on "Mornings On 1".
On the surface, it's a play about the history of China. But there's also more going on behind the scenes.
Shen Yun is associated with a religious group known as Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa that originated in China.
The group is strongly persecuted by the Chinese government - it's illegal to practice Falun Gong in China.
As such, Falun Gong practitioners outside of China often speak out against the Chinese Communist Party.
"They came to political prominence in China in the late 1990s by staging a lot of protests against the ruling communist party. The party cracked down very severely, a lot of the members went underground, a lot of them left the country. A little bit after that, they founded media groups in the United States," explained Isaac Stone Fish, a Senior Fellow at the Asia Society.
It was 2006 when Falun Gong practitioners here in the city founded Shen Yun Performing Arts.
The show is marketed as being about Chinese history, but it also has scenes that promote Falun Gong and criticize the Chinese government.
Audiences that come out to see the show aren't always aware of the religious and political message.
"I remember sitting next to an older couple who had come for the martial arts and the singing and dancing, and were just very confused by all of the talk of the red beast that was menacing China," Stone Fish said.
Shen Yun never responded to NY1's requests for comment on this story, but the FAQ page on the show's website does say that Shen Yun's artists are Falun Gong practicioners, and that it serves as an inspiration for the performances.
It also says that every year, at least one scene of the show is directly related to Falun Gong.
However that isn't very clear from the advertising.
Here's something else interesting. A recent copy of the Epoch Times, which is a newspaper here in the city associated with Falun Gong, features an article about Donald Trump on the front page, along with a big ad for Shen Yun below the fold.
But these are paid advertisements, it still doesn't explain how their posters end up in practically every shop window.
One possible explanation is guerilla marketing.
Falun Gong membership in the city is estimated in the thousands.
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/mornings-on-1/2019/01/11/a-look-at-what-is-behind-shen-yun
