The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025
A gaokao-fraud finding emptied 那尔那茜's brand book within days
An exam-record fraud finding made adidas, Huawei, Chagee and Arcfox drop her within days — under a clause letting brands claim 1-5x the contract.
adidas · Huawei (华为) · Arcfox (极狐汽车) · Chagee (霸王茶姬) · Jindian (金典有机奶) · Armani Beauty (阿玛尼美妆) · 2025-06
What happened
In spring 2025 rising actress 那尔那茜 — a lead in big upcoming films — was a hot pick: brand ambassador for Arcfox and Jindian organic milk, brand friend to Armani Beauty, and featured in ad campaigns for adidas, Huawei and Chagee.
On 21 June 2025 Inner Mongolia's education department confirmed she had registered for the college entrance exam in 2008 as a Hohhot school graduate with no actual enrolment — exam-registration fraud. Within a day CCTV-8 had dropped her name from the cast list of 《长安的荔枝》.
The brands acted fast. adidas, Huawei, Chagee and Arcfox deleted their campaign posts; Arcfox told reporters the partnership was over. Armani framed its exit as a natural expiry and Jindian scrubbed its content. Their contracts carried a negative-PR clause letting a brand claim 1-5x the contract value, and media estimated the bill at tens of millions of yuan.
Why it happened
- The brands had bet on a rising face whose whole value was a clean, academic public image — the fraud finding destroyed exactly that
- The 1-5x negative-PR clause gave every brand a ready-made exit and a claim, so the fall became a financial event, not just a reputation one
- Speed protected the brands: deleting her image within days kept the campaigns from being tarred by association
The lesson
A portfolio of brands bet on one clean image; when the paper trail collapsed, each had a 1-5x clause turning the fall into a payment — speed turned reputation into a collectable loss.
Aftermath
adidas, Huawei, Chagee and Arcfox deleted the posts; Arcfox confirmed the end; Armani framed it as expiry; Jindian scrubbed content. CCTV removed her from 《长安的荔枝》 and other titles followed. Longines kept her, but coverage called her commercially 'socially dead'.
Sources
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