The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2021
Yihetang reposted ad copy that 'serves secretaries' and apologised for insulting women
A fast-growing milk-tea chain promoted a drink with a reposted 'check-in' video whose lines read as demeaning women, hit Weibo's hot search and apologised.
Yihetang · 2021-07
What happened
Around July 2021 the milk-tea chain Yihetang promoted a new product with a 'check-in' (打卡) video on food-delivery platforms, originally created by a Douyin blogger, that carried the lines '空姐的品质，吉祥村的价格' (stewardess quality at cheap prices) and '这一大杯够你三四个秘书喝' (this big cup is enough for three or four secretaries).
Netizens read the copy as downplaying and objectifying women, the topic '益禾堂宣传文案' hit Weibo's hot search, and the brand was described as being 'berated into fame' (骂火) for the wrong reason.
Yihetang apologised immediately, admitting weak review and supervision for reposting the blogger's video, deleted and removed the videos across all platforms, ran a full-platform check, claimed 'respecting women' as a principle it always held, and promised to hold staff accountable.
Why it happened
- A line a brand reposts in its own channel becomes the brand's line, and the audience held Yihetang to copy it never wrote.
- Flattering a product by cheapening a person reads as contempt, and the women customers the chain courted caught it instantly.
- An apology that keeps saying 'we only reposted someone else's video' reads as blame-shifting even after the removal.
The lesson
A brand owns every line it reposts: copy that sells a product by demeaning a person becomes the brand's own words, and an apology that keeps blaming the original blogger only deepens the wound.
Aftermath
Yihetang pulled the videos from all platforms and promised internal accountability, but the slogans stayed online and were cited alongside earlier cases like Chayan Yuese and Quanmianshidai as part of a wave of milk-tea marketing accused of insulting women. The episode was used in media commentary as a warning that a brand's platform is its point of view, whether or not it wrote the words.
Sources
- 界面新闻: 益禾堂宣传文案涉嫌侮辱女性 官方致歉 (the slogans, the backlash, the response)
- 光明网/澎湃: 奶茶品牌营销被指侮辱女性 转载自他人就可以被原谅? (the slogans, the repost defence, the commentary)
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