If it didn't start out that way, it soon will be. One technique that I enjoyed was personification of the Chinese characters. The SME Center has such an image on their site for the SME Award. To give you an idea of the size of these ads, they are about the same physical size as a minivan. I'm not sure that this ad would be positively accepted here, in the United States.
Some statistics translate well between cultures.
Boobs still sell. What draws you to the ad makes you stare, and it isn't the cancer society logo. In fact, I think it was my 8 th trip down to the MTR before I saw the Breast Cancer logo. The ad is telling about the new Airport Express services on the MTR to the airport. It's safer down there than one might think.