The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025
Qiaqia's sunflower-seed copy read as a jab at an actress — the brand said nothing
A Weibo ad line about dry, moisture-free seeds was read as mocking an actress's fandom slang, and Qiaqia's silence turned it into a boycott.
Qiaqia Food · 2025-12-02
What happened
In early December 2025, Qiaqia's official Weibo account posted marketing copy describing its sunflower seeds as "very dry, no extra moisture" (很干燥，没有多余水分). Fans of actress Yang Zi read the phrasing as a coded jab at her — "moisture" (水分) echoes fandom slang tied to her, and the post landed while she was already a target of online sniping.
Fan communities organized complaints and calls to boycott the brand, and ordinary consumers piled on over the tone. Qiaqia did not apologize or explain the copy; it went quiet instead, a response inside the company described as "cold handling" (冷处理).
The silence stretched the story out for weeks instead of closing it. Commentary threads dredged up Qiaqia's earlier food-safety controversies — mold and sulfur-dioxide-residue complaints — and folded them into the same pile-on, so a copywriting complaint widened into a broader trust problem for the brand.
Why it happened
- A line written for shelf copy carried a second reading the marketing team either missed or ignored, and nobody caught it before it posted.
- Saying nothing to an organized fan boycott let the story run on its own terms for weeks rather than closing in days.
- Once the brand looked evasive, commentators reached back for its older food-safety complaints and merged them into the same narrative.
The lesson
Marketing copy needs a check for unintended second readings before it posts, and staying silent through an organized fan backlash lets the story run longer, not shorter.
Aftermath
Qiaqia had not issued a public apology or explanation as the controversy continued into August 2026, with commentary continuing to link it to the company's earlier food-safety complaints.
Sources
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