The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2022
Miniso spent years pretending to be Japanese — then China found out
Miniso pretended to be a 'Japanese designer brand' with a fake co-founder. When the qipao-as-geisha incident exposed the act, the stock dropped 37%.
Miniso (名创优品)
What happened
Miniso, founded in Guangzhou in 2013, styled itself as a 'Japanese designer brand' — complete with a Uniqlo-like logo, a fake Japanese co-founder called 'Miyake Junya,' store signage reading 'From Japan,' and a .jp domain. The company flew the Japanese flag at signing ceremonies in Greece, Romania, and Bulgaria, with founder Ye Guofu present. It had over 5,000 stores worldwide.
In July 2022, Miniso's Spanish Instagram account posted photos of Disney Princess dolls dressed in Chinese cheongsam (qipao) but labelled them 'geisha outfits.' When Chinese commenters corrected the label, the account responded with a smile emoji. The incident went viral on Chinese social media and triggered investigations into Miniso's broader branding.
Chinese media exposed the full extent of Miniso's Japan-themed deception: the flag ceremonies, the fake co-founder, the store policies banning Chinese music. The backlash was severe. Miniso's stock dropped over 37% from its highs. On August 22, 2022, founder Ye Guofu issued a statement: 'Miniso is a Chinese company from beginning to end, and it wants to be an upright Chinese brand.' The company began de-Japanising 3,100 Chinese stores and 1,900 overseas locations.
Why it happened
- The deception was structural: a fake co-founder, a copied logo, flag ceremonies, and banned Chinese music — the Japanese identity was not marketing spin, it was the foundation.
- The geisha mistake was the trigger: mislabelling a qipao as a geisha outfit exposed a company that had performed 'Japanese' so long it could not tell the difference.
- The smile emoji made it worse: responding to corrections with a smile told Chinese consumers their concern was dismissed — the arrogance was as damaging as the error.
- The rebrand cost was enormous: de-Japanising 5,000+ stores — signage, logos, uniforms, music — is a full corporate identity change at global scale.
The lesson
Building a brand on a fake national identity works until someone notices. When the performance is the product, exposure is not a PR crisis — it is an existential one.
Sources
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