JD Finance's loan ad mocked a migrant worker — two apologies and punishments in a week

In mid-December 2020, JD Finance (京东金融) ran a series of loan ads on short-video platforms including Douyin. One video: a migrant worker's mother feels airsick on a plane, the flight attendant suggests an upgrade, and the worker cannot afford it. A passenger in a suit offers to pay for the upgrade — then takes the worker's phone, borrows ¥150,000 on JD Finance, and pitches the product's new-user interest-free coupon and daily rate of ¥1.9 per 10,000.

The video drew immediate outrage: critics said it was value-degenerate, pushed people into debt, and sold loans by mocking a migrant worker for not knowing how air travel works. Industry observers called the ad improper on both counts. It came right after 360 Jietiao had been forced to pull a similar vulgar loan ad, so the pattern was already notorious.

On 15 December, JD Finance's official Weibo account apologized: the short video had "serious value problems" and the company took full responsibility; the video was taken down; all existing short videos would be re-reviewed, agency management tightened, review teams strengthened, and those responsible punished with dismissal, demotion or docked performance pay.

On the evening of 17 December, JD Group issued a second apology and announced a dedicated investigation team, saying the incident was not just a management failure but a problem of the team's direction, culture and values — "chasing performance blindly, losing ourselves, abandoning responsibility, forgetting our original purpose". No regulator fine was reported, but the image of a boss borrowing ¥150,000 on a migrant worker's phone became the symbol of China's predatory loan-ad wave.