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Can’t Buy Me Trump – Is Trump Merchandise Being Censored on Taobao?

While some Chinese businesses are doing good business with Trump-related merchandise, e-commerce giant Taobao blocked virtually all Trump products on its desktop version on election day.

Manya Koetse

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While some Chinese businesses are doing good business selling Trump-related merchandise, e-commerce giant Taobao blocked virtually all Trump products on its desktop version on election day, What’s on Weibo found.

The victory of Trump in the US elections is the talk of the day on Chinese social media. On e-commerce platform Taobao, Trump-related merchandise is ubiquitous, with merchants selling anything from Trump masks, to Trump toilet paper or sweatshirts. But on November 9, all Trump-related products led to an error message on the Taobao desktop version, making them unavailable for purchase.

trump-merchandise

When searching for Trump merchandise on China’s e-commerce Taobao, there are many options available. A Trump “Make America Great Again” t-shirt is sold for 59 RMB (±8.6 US$), while a Trump mask is priced at 66 RMB (±9.7 US$). Some Trump toilet paper was sold for 228 RMB (±33 US$).

trumptshirts

toilet

But while searching for any other non-Trump-related product on Taobao does not give any problems, all Trump products gave an ‘error’ message upon clicking them in the late evening and night of November 9/10 (Beijing time).

makeamericagreat

trumpmasks

errorpage

The error page upon clicking any Trump merchandise on Taobao.

Various English-language media outlets reported earlier that China’s censors issued advance orders to media outlets to restrict coverage of the U.S. democratic contest.

According to South China Morning Post, Chinese websites, news outlets and TV networks were told not to provide any live coverage or broadcasts of the election, and to avoid “excessive” reporting of the story. It is yet unclear if Taobao’s Trump merchandise was under similar censorship regulations.

Earlier today, a Weibo blogger posted that a factory in Zhejiang producing rubber Trump masks, as the one featured in this article, had “crazy orders” with many bulk buyers, mostly from outside China. The blogger also stated that Trump-related merchandise on e-commerce giant Alibaba had 11 pages of products, while Hillary-related products only counted 3 pages.

For now, those who want to buy a Trump mask on Taobao are out of luck – virtually all results for purchasing are blocked. On the mobile version of the e-commerce platform, some might still be able to buy a Trump mask, if they just cannot get enough of the most talked-about person of the day.

Update November 10: not just Trump merchandise, but also Hillary Clinton masks and other products have been blocked on Taobao on the election day.

Update November 10: the blockages seem to have cleared up now, so it might have been an election-day-only measurement. Who ever wants to buy a Trump mask on Taobao can do so here.

– By Manya Koetse
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Additional research by China blogger @edsander.

©2016 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

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1 Comment

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    Ed Sander

    November 10, 2016 at 11:07 am

    One day later the products are available again, making this a strange case.

    Yesterday all of the ‘fun’ products like masks and T-shirts were not available, while serious Trump products like his books were. This pointed at a very selective temporary censoring of products.

    It also doesn’t seem like they wanted to screen out the more offensive products since the Trump toilet paper is also available again.

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Tick, Tock, Time to Pay Up? Douyin Is Testing Out Paywalled Short Videos

Is content payment a new beginning for the popular short video app Douyin (China’s TikTok) or would it be the end?

Manya Koetse

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The introduction of a Douyin novel feature, that would enable content creators to impose a fee for accessing their short video content, has sparked discussions across Chinese social media. Although the feature would benefit creators, many Douyin users are skeptical.

News that Chinese social media app Douyin is rolling out a new feature which allows creators to introduce a paywall for their short video content has triggered online discussions in China this week.

The feature, which made headlines on November 16, is presently in the testing phase. A number of influential content creators are now allowed to ‘paywall’ part of their video content.

Douyin is the hugely popular app by Chinese tech giant Bytedance. TikTok is the international version of the Chinese successful short video app, and although they’re often presented as being the same product, Douyin and Tiktok are actually two separate entities.

In addition to variations in content management and general usage, Douyin differs from TikTok in terms of features. Douyin previously experimented with functionalities such as charging users for accessing mini-dramas on the platform or the ability to tip content creators.

The pay-to-view feature on Douyin would require users to pay a certain fee in Douyin coins (抖币) in order to view paywalled content. One Douyin coin is equivalent to 0.1 yuan ($0,014). The platform itself takes 30% of the income as a service charge.

According to China Securities Times or STCN (证券时报网), Douyin insiders said that any short video content meeting Douyin’s requirements could be set as “pay-per-view.”

Creators, who can set their own paywall prices, should reportedly meet three criteria to qualify for the pay-to-view feature: their account cannot have any violation records for a period of 90 days, they should have at least 100,000 followers, and they have to have completed the real-name authentication process.

On Douyin and Weibo, Chinese netizens express various views on the feature. Many people do not think it would be a good idea to charge money for short videos. One video blogger (@小片片说大片) pointed out the existing challenge of persuading netizens to pay for longer videos, let alone expecting them to pay for shorter ones.

“The moment I’d need to pay money for it, I’ll delete the app,” some commenters write.

This statement appears to capture the prevailing sentiment among most internet users regarding a subscription-based Douyin environment. According to a survey conducted by the media platform Pear Video, more than 93% of respondents expressed they would not be willing to pay for short videos.

An online poll by Pear Video showed that the majority of respondents would not be willing to pay for short videos on Douyin.

“This could be a breaking point for Douyin,” one person predicts: “Other platforms could replace it.” There are more people who think it would be the end of Douyin and that other (free) short video platforms might take its place.

Some commenters, however, had their own reasons for supporting a pay-per-view function on the platform, suggesting it would help them solve their Douyin addiction. One commenter remarked, “Fantastic, this might finally help me break free from watching short videos!” Another individual responded, “Perhaps this could serve as a remedy for my procrastination.”

As discussions about the new feature trended, Douyin’s customer service responded, stating that it would eventually be up to content creators whether or not they want to activate the paid feature for their videos, and that it would be up to users whether or not they would be interested in such content – otherwise they can just swipe away.

Another social media user wrote: “There’s only one kind of video I’m willing to pay for, and it’s not on Douyin.”

By Manya Koetse

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©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Tsingtao Brewery ‘Pee-Gate’: Factory Worker Caught Urinating in Raw Material Warehouse

The pee incident, that occurred at a subsidiary Tsingtao Beer factory, has caused concerns among consumers.

Manya Koetse

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A video that has circulated on Chinese social media since October 19 shows how an alleged worker at a Tsingtao Beer factory climbs over a wall at the raw material production site and starts to urinate.

The incident reportedly occurred at the Tsingtao Beer Factory No. 3, a subsidiary of the Tsingtao Brewing Company, located in Qingdao, Shandong.

After the video went viral, the Tsingtao Brewery Company issued a statement that they took the incident very seriously and immediately report it to the authorities, who have started an investigation into the case. Meanwhile, the specific batch in production has been halted and shut off.

The incident has caused concern among consumers, and some commenters on social media wonder if this was the first time something like this has happened. “How do we know this hasn’t happened many times before?”

Others speculate about what might have motivated the man to urinate at the production site. There are those who believe that the man is part of an undercover operation orchestrated by a rivaling company, aimed at discrediting Tsingtao. It’s even suggested that there were two ‘moles’ leaking in this incident: one doing the urinating, and the other doing the video ‘leak.’

Meanwhile, there are voices who are critical of Tsingtao, suggesting that the renowned beer brand has not effectively addressed the ‘pee gate’ scandal. It remains uncertain how this incident will impact the brand, but some netizens are already expressing reservations about ordering a Tsingtao beer as a result.

But there are also those who joke about the “pissing incident,” wondering if Tsingtao Beer might soon launch a special “urine flavored beer.”

By Manya Koetse

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Featured photo by Jay Ang (link).

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.

©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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