The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2026
Bright Dairy's 'fresh pasture' milk was called a label trick — a mark it never registered
Bright Dairy sold a high-temp milk as '新鲜牧场' beside real fresh milk; critics said it passed as 鲜奶 on an unregistered mark, and the brand called it malicious.
Bright Dairy (光明乳业)
What happened
In April 2026 Bright Dairy's '新鲜牧场' (Fresh Pasture) milk came under fire: a 950ml 高温杀菌乳 (high-temperature pasteurised milk, not 巴氏) was sold beside pasteurised milk in cold cabinets and labelled '鲜奶' on e-commerce, leading shoppers to read 'fresh' as 鲜牛乳 — a term Chinese standards reserve for pasteurised milk.
The '新鲜牧场' name carried only a TM mark; official records show Bright Dairy's applications for the trademark were repeatedly rejected or not accepted, so it had no valid registration. The packaging's four large '新鲜牧场' characters dwarfed the small '高温杀菌乳' line.
The brand's response was blunt: it said the packaging clearly states 高温杀菌乳, called the '商标擦边' claim 恶意造谣 (malicious rumour), argued TM is not a legal registration mark, and adjusted or deleted the e-commerce '鲜奶' wording. The row landed as Bright Dairy posted a loss for 2025 — revenue fell 1.58% to 23.895 billion yuan and net profit swung to a 149-million-yuan loss, ending a 16-year profit streak.
Why it happened
- A weak trademark invited the read: '新鲜牧场' as a repeatedly rejected TM mark, larger than the actual product type, let 'fresh' carry the weight of '鲜奶' without a registration to back it.
- Shelf placement did the misleading: a non-pasteurised milk sold in the cold cabinet next to real fresh milk pairs the name and the position to steer the shopper.
- A combative response hardened it: calling legitimate criticism 恶意造谣 made the brand look like it had something to defend rather than a product to explain.
- The timing was brutal: insisting on a premium 'fresh' story while the company booked its first loss in 16 years sharpened the gap between the label and the accounts.
The lesson
A never-registered mark cannot carry a freshness claim. When the name outshines the product type and sits beside the real thing, it reads as a label trick — calling critics liars confirms it.
Sources
- 新浪财经 — 光明乳业'新鲜牧场'商标争议：多次申请均被驳回，无有效注册，2026-04-20
- 腾讯新闻／山西晚报·刻度财经 — 光明乳业'新鲜牧场'被指商标擦边，公司回应称恶意造谣，2026-04-23
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