Back to the archive

The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025

MOHK made Wang Dalu its global face — five days later he was in legal trouble

Five days separated the announcement and the scandal: a small eyewear brand signed a star at his peak and immediately inherited his legal trouble.

MOHK Glasses (摩今眼镜) · 2025-02-18

What happened

On 13 February 2025, MOHK (Mo Jin), a Xiamen-based eyewear brand, announced actor Wang Dalu as its global brand ambassador. Wang, popular across Greater China through films and reality TV, was meant to carry the brand's "dreamer" positioning, backed by a dedicated campaign and store materials.

Five days later, on 18 February, Wang became the subject of a legal case in Taiwan over allegations that he had used falsified medical records to avoid military service. The case was covered widely the same day; online, the episode was quickly dubbed the "five-day endorsement".

MOHK's response was to hold its position. Asked by Chuanguan News (citing Southern Metropolis Daily) and by Economic Observer reporters in early March, the brand said Wang "remains our ambassador", declared it "will not condone any illegal behaviour", and said it was still gathering information. Its official website and its booth at the Shanghai eyewear fair kept using his image. The deal was neither cancelled nor usable — the campaign sat frozen while the brand answered for its endorser's legal problems.

Why it happened

  • The signing and the scandal were five days apart — no diligence process could be shorter than the news cycle that killed the campaign
  • A small brand bet its entire launch on one face, so it had no second asset to fall back on when the face became the story
  • Stuck between cancel and keep, MOHK chose wait — and paid twice: criticised for not dropping him and mocked for keeping him
What it costSigned 13 Feb, legal case hit 18 Feb — campaign frozenembarrassing

The lesson

An endorsement is an option on a reputation — the term can be shorter than the paperwork, so the price should be, too.

Aftermath

MOHK never formally ended the partnership; into early March its website and fair booth still showed Wang's image. Public memory, however, had already fixed the deal as the "five-day endorsement", and the launch momentum the brand had paid for was gone.

Sources

spotted an error? The club wants to know.

Comments · 0

    Sign in to join the comments.

    More like this

    Somewhere, someone solved the problem this company failed at. 2nd Opinion →