China Tea Brand Shares Drop on Suspicions About Viral Marketing Ploy

Xiangpiaopiao, a Chinese milk tea brand, experienced a significant drop in its daily revenue and stock price following suspicions that it may have orchestrated a marketing stunt involving its products. The company's share price fell by 4.29% to close at 18.09 yuan, and its daily sales on Douyin's livestreaming platform plummeted from around 1 million yuan to between 10,000 and 25,000 yuan [para. 2].

The controversy began after images of Xiangpiaopiao’s Meco juice tea products with cup sleeves bearing anti-Japanese slogans went viral during the Labor Day holiday. These slogans were a response to Japan’s discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean—a move that had previously led China, Hong Kong, and Macau to suspend Japanese aquatic imports [para. 1][para. 3][para. 4].

Initially, the viral images boosted Xiangpiaopiao's popularity; the company's stock price surged by the daily limit of 10% on Monday following supportive posts from the company on social media platforms like Weibo. The hashtag related to Xiangpiaopiao’s response to the incident garnered over 190 million views [para. 5]. In response to this surge in attention, Xiangpiaopiao launched sales of these controversial cup sleeves on its Douyin store and even rewarded employees involved in what was perceived as a successful marketing campaign [para. 6].

However, doubts about the authenticity of these viral photos emerged when investigations revealed that stores in Japan mentioned in social media posts had not sold any Xiangpiaopiao products with such slogans. This led to further scrutiny and criticism of the brand for potentially exploiting nationalist sentiments for commercial gain [para. 7][para. 8].

Despite these controversies, Xiangpiaopiao did not provide clear responses to inquiries about whether the incident was staged. The company merely commented that stock prices are influenced by various factors without directly addressing accusations regarding the staging of photos [para. 9]. Following these events, all products related to the controversial marketing campaign were removed from both their Douyin flagship store and other e-commerce platforms like Taobao [para. 10].

Xiangpiaopiao was founded in 2005 as a family business specializing initially in instant milk tea before expanding into ready-to-drink products with its sub-brand Meco launched in 2017. Despite recent controversies and market fluctuations, it managed a slight recovery with its share price increasing by 1.93% to close at 18.44 yuan on Friday [para. 11].