The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025
Taoli Bread told young people they hadn't been beaten by life enough — then apologised
An elevator ad said five-nut mooncake tasted bad because you're too young and life hasn't hit you yet. Pulled in one day. The apology blamed 'the leaders'.
桃李面包 · Taoli Bread · 2025-09
What happened
Taoli Bread (桃李面包, 603866.SH), China's largest listed bakery company, ran an elevator advertisement for its 'Dan Yue Shao' (蛋月烧) mooncake product. The copy read: 'Some people say five-nut mooncakes taste bad. We think that's because you're still young and haven't been beaten by life enough. Taoli Dan Yue Shao — waiting for someone with a story to order.' The ad was part of a campaign with 20 different copy versions targeting different age groups.
The reaction was immediate and hostile. Consumers read the copy as condescending — a brand telling its own customers that their taste preferences were a sign of immaturity. Comments included 'I don't want to be beaten by life, so I won't eat it, thanks.' Reports noted that Taoli Bread had deleted critical consumer comments from its social media posts, which intensified the backlash.
On 4 September 2025, Taoli Bread apologised. The company explained it had tried an 'open internal co-creation mechanism' inviting employees of different ages to write copy freely, producing 20 versions. One version caused the controversy. The ad was pulled after one day. A second apology followed, stating: 'The copy failure is entirely the leaders' responsibility. Going forward, young people will take over our communications.'
The controversy landed against a difficult financial backdrop. In the first half of 2025, Taoli Bread's revenue fell 13.55% year-on-year to 2.611 billion yuan, while advertising spending rose over 40% to 42.96 million yuan. R&D spending fell 30.81% to 10.66 million yuan — 0.4% of revenue.
Why it happened
- The copy framed a product weakness — five-nut mooncake's divisive taste — as a character flaw in the consumer, turning a marketing message into an insult
- An 'open co-creation' process with no editorial gate produced 20 versions but no filter for tone; the most provocative version was the one that ran in elevators
- Deleting critical consumer comments before the apology signalled that the brand's first instinct was suppression, not listening
- The ad spend increase of 40% against a 13.5% revenue decline shows a company trying to buy relevance it could not earn through product — and getting the tone wrong in the attempt
The lesson
Telling your customer their taste is wrong is not edgy — it is a reason to buy someone else's product. Co-creation without an editorial gate is not democracy; it is unreviewed risk.
Aftermath
Taoli Bread's second apology — blaming 'the leaders' and promising to hand communications to younger staff — became its own viral moment, drawing both sympathy and further mockery. The case circulated in Chinese advertising communities as an example of how not to execute 'provocative' copy, and how not to structure an apology.
Sources
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