WEGO backlash: Key takeaways
- WEGO cancelled its My Hero Academia collection after backlash over a planned 18 September launch
- The anime’s 2020 Unit 731 controversy made the launch date especially sensitive in China
- The dispute comes days before WEGO’s planned Shanghai store opening, raising questions about how it chooses IP partners
Chinese consumers have proved themselves to have a long memory this September, and WEGO has slipped up in a way they won’t quickly forget. The Japanese fashion brand has had to cancel a collaboration with My Hero Academia (我的英雄学院) after accusations it’s 18 September launch date deliberately coincided with the 1931 Japanese invasion of northeastern China.
WEGO’s 18 September launch date deliberately coincided with the 1931 Japanese invasion of northeastern China.
On the surface that sounds like quite a stretch, but there’s precedent. In 2020, My Hero Academia drew fire from China when it featured a fictional doctor that conducted lethal experiments on his human patients.
That was perceived as a nod to the infamous Japanese Unit 731, a Japanese military wing that did the same on largely Chinese prisoners. Thousands died. And then there was the fictional doctor’s name, Maruta, meaning ‘log’ – a derisive name Unit 731 gave its victims.
My Hero’s creator apologised, denied it was an intentional historical reference, and changed the name. It’s not a good look for WEGO, and it comes as the brand is attempting a China-market comeback. WEGO opened a physical store in Shanghai in 2010, but later withdrew from the physical mainland China market.
It’s not a good look for WEGO, and it comes as the brand is attempting a China-market comeback
Now they’re back. Openings on major online platforms run back to 2023, and a string of Shanghai pop-ups have prepared the offline sphere for the 29 September opening of a new Shanghai brick-and-mortar store.
The Dao view: Can WEGO ride out on a love of guzi?
Traditionally, there is still strong demand for WEGO products in China, particularly its ita bags (痛包). These bags have transparent sections that let fans display character badges, dolls and other merchandise, usually tied to anime and gaming. These are known as guzi (谷子), and they’re very popular with Chinese teens.
As WEGO gives Chinese fans a way to display the characters they love, its own choice of franchise becomes unusually consequential. As a result, they need to think very clearly about the IPs they pair up with. In this case, it looks like the thinking wasn’t clear enough.
