L'Oréal promised streamers its lowest price — then undercut them in its own room

On 20 October 2021, ahead of Double 11, L'Oréal Paris sold its 50-piece ampoule face mask for ¥429 in the livestream rooms of Li Jiaqi and Viya, promoted by the brand itself as the biggest deal of the year. Days into the festival, shoppers found the same mask in L'Oréal's own livestream room at ¥257.7 once stackable coupons were applied — pre-sale buyers had paid about 66% more.

Complaints piled up: the Heimao consumer platform counted 10,637 collective complaints by 17 November. That evening the companies behind Li Jiaqi and Viya issued near-identical statements: negotiations with L'Oréal had produced no solution, the brand had 24 hours to offer one or the streamers would compensate buyers themselves — and all cooperation with L'Oréal Paris was suspended until the dispute was resolved.

L'Oréal apologised before dawn on 18 November, blaming overlapping platform and store coupons for the price stack, and promised a solution protecting buyers' interests. The plan that followed — threshold coupons rather than refunds — drew a second wave of anger. The Zhejiang consumer council observed that a business that loses trust loses everything; the episode became the canonical case of a brand breaking its own price promise across channels.