The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2026
Haihe Milk's livestream host used sexual innuendo to sell milk
A host in Haihe Milk's livestream used suggestive talk and gestures to sell dairy and keep viewers watching. The distributor running it was fined 450,000 yuan.
Haihe Milk · Tianjin Baiyi E-commerce · 2026-04
What happened
In April 2026, the host of the official 'Haihe Milk flagship store' livestream was reported for using sexually suggestive language and gestures while selling the brand's chilled milk and flavoured dairy products, apparently to hold viewers in the stream longer and push them toward buying. Clips of the stream circulated as evidence of what critics called low-grade sales tactics dressed up as a dairy promotion.
The stream was run by Tianjin Baiyi E-commerce, a distributor partnered with Tianjin Haihe Dairy to sell its products online rather than a division of the dairy company itself. Haihe Dairy issued a public apology once the clips spread, said it had ended its partnership with Baiyi, and said it would pursue further accountability.
On 26 May 2026, Tianjin's Binhai New Area market regulator fined Baiyi 450,000 yuan for running advertising that violated social standards of decency, closing out a case that had already cost the distributor its authorisation to sell the brand.
Why it happened
- A sales tactic built on innuendo to hold viewers works exactly as designed for watch time, then becomes the story once clips circulate — the brand's name travels, not the distributor's.
- Running sales through an outside distributor did not insulate Haihe Dairy from the backlash; viewers saw the brand's flagship store, not the separate company operating it.
- Escalating suggestive language for engagement turned an ordinary product livestream into advertising a regulator could rule against on decency grounds.
The lesson
A host selling Haihe Milk on livestream used sexual innuendo to hold viewers, and the distributor running it was fined 450,000 yuan. Whatever keeps a product stream watched is still an ad.
Aftermath
Haihe Dairy apologised and ended its partnership with the distributor. Tianjin's Binhai New Area market regulator fined the distributor, Tianjin Baiyi E-commerce, 450,000 yuan on 26 May 2026 for advertising that violated public decency standards.
Sources
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