The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2026
Marssenger's metro 'sigh of relief' ad was pulled in a day — as losses mount
Marssenger ran a 16,800-yuan 'catch a breath' ad in Xujiahui metro; passengers read it as exploiting life's anxiety and it was pulled within a day.
Marssenger (火星人厨具)
What happened
In January 2026 Marssenger (300894.SZ), the listed integrated-cooker maker, ran a '松口气' (finally catch a breath) ad in the Line 9 transfer tunnel at Xujiahui metro. The copy pressed life-stage anxiety — 'we are used to waiting all our lives, waiting for the gaokao, waiting to get into university… when will you finally catch a breath?' — and pushed a 16,800-yuan '松口气套餐'.
Passengers complained the ad was preying on everyday pressures, and the brand pulled it on the night of January 9, the day after it appeared, pending a rewrite. The publisher was 德高广告 (Shanghai).
The stumble came while the business was deteriorating: 2025 Q1-Q3 revenue fell 43.03% to 577 million yuan, net profit swung to a 218-million-yuan loss, net margin was -37.83%, and the sales-expense ratio jumped to 46.75% from 27.73% a year earlier. Credit rater 中证鹏元 had already cut its outlook to negative in November.
Why it happened
- Anxious copy is a cheap appeal: stacking 'waiting for the gaokao… university…' reads as a brand mining stress rather than solving it, and a 16,800-yuan appliance becomes the punchline people reject.
- A pull is not a correction: the ad came down within a day, but the brand never explained the intent, so the audience was left with the worst reading.
- The timing undercut it: running a 'sigh of relief' ad while the company's own profit disappeared made the escapist pitch look out of touch.
- Marketing spend rose as revenue fell: the sales-expense ratio nearly doubled to 46.75% while sales shrank — the spend was working against the numbers.
The lesson
Appeal ads that trade on life-stage anxiety invite the audience to push back. A take-down without a word cedes the story, and pitching relief while losing money reads as out of touch.
Sources
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