Key takeaways:
- A photo of an anti-Japan slogan on the sleeve of a Meco fruit tea from the instant milk tea from Xiangpiaopiao went viral.
- The company denied prior knowledge but supported the supposedly spontaneous action of one employee. The sales and stock price both jumped to new heights.
- The brand had been struggling since 2020 before stabilising in 2023. It has recently changed its management.
This Labour Day holiday, Japan became one of the hottest destinations for travellers. With the Yen being weak in Japan, shopping in the country is the equivalent of 20% off compared to at home, and signals the recovery of travel, shopping and short holidays in China. With airlines adding flights between the two Asian countries and hotels fully booked, it would seem that China has fallen in love with Japan all over again after a tense 8 months since Japan announced its discharge of treated nuclear wastewater from Fukushima into the sea.
The division
However, it doesn’t mean all is well between the two countries and their people. As Japan is set to release the 5th round of treated radioactive wastewater on 7May, an image of a paper sleeve from a tea drink has been going viral on Chinese social media since 4 May. The image is of a Meco fruit juice tea, from the instant milk tea brand Xiangpiaopiao (香飘飘). The sleeve contains the message: “Japanese politicians please drink up the wastewater!” in both Chinese and Japanese. It was supposedly taken in an Asian store in Tokyo.
Xiangpiaopiao quickly showed support by meeting the person at the airport with a hero’s welcome
This was greatly welcomed on Chinese social media and many showed support by announcing that they would be buying from Xiangpiaopiao. Later, it was said that it was an action taken by a single young employee without company knowledge. Amid concerns about the employee getting fired due to stepping out of line, Xiangpiaopiao quickly showed support by meeting the person at the airport with a hero’s welcome and giving them a cash prize of 100,000 RMB (14,105.40 USD) as well as releasing a public letter commending the employee. The topic “Xiangpiaopiao respond to the Japan-mocking incident” (#香飘飘回应讽日事件#) shot to number 1 on the Hot Search list on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform with 190 million views.
The dividends
The sales on the Xiangpiaopiao livestream channel between 4 and 5 May grew 400 times from 2,500 RMB (352.63 USD) to 1 million RMB (141,054 USD). Xiangpiaopiao general manager Yang Dongyun also appeared on the livestream, stating that homegrown brands should look after their compatriots. The company proceeded to giveaway two cups per 0.1 RMB perks in the livestream and donated its profit for 4 hours to an environmental fund.
General manager Yang Dongyun also appeared on the livestream, stating that homegrown brands should look after their compatriots
The company stock also grew 10.02% on Monday and a further 4.69% the next day to 20.11 RMB (2.78 USD), taking the company value to 8.26 billion RMB (1.17 billion USD).
The divisive
However, the Asian store in question, the Okubo (大久保) branch of Kyowa Shoten (京和商店) in Tokyo denied stocking beverages with such a message on its packaging. The topic “Japanese shop denies selling milk tea with Japan-mocking sleeves” (#日本商店否认出售香飘飘讽日杯套奶茶#) reached number 20 on the Hot Search list with 50.45 million views on Weibo. On closer inspection, only the one cup held by the photographer has a sleeve with anti-Japan messaging, while all other cups on the shelf have normal sleeves.
Commentator Hu Xijin, former chief editor of Nationalist tabloid Global Times, criticised the gimmicky marketing and condemned the act as scamming consumers back home with fake hard-line messaging. On Wednesday, the brand’s stock price dipped 5.1% to 18.44 RMB (2.55 USD).
Xiangpiaopiao has been struggling for the past 3 years and finally got back on track last year with its 3.63 billion RMB revenue, growing 15.90% year-on-year. It has also started to shed its family business image by hiring a new general manager and replacing Jiang Jianqi, the founder. The new general manager Yang Dongyun is an industry veteran, having worked with Baixiang and Procter and Gamble.
There is also a question of whether the brand can hold on to the goodwill of nationalistic netizens
The brand still faces steep competition from freshly made tea chains such as Hey Tea and Mixue Bingcheng. However, it is worth watching to see if the instant tea giant can keep the momentum from its patriotic campaign and flourish with its renewed brand image. With potential backlash regarding the allegedly staged photo, there is also a question of whether the brand can hold on to the goodwill of nationalistic netizens.
