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Look Who’s Talking: China’s CCTV Consumer Day Show Accused of Misinformation

Is the pot calling the kettle black?

Manya Koetse

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The 27th edition of China’s consumer day show ‘CCTV 315 Night’ (315晚会) caused controversy on Chinese social media when it exposed the malpractices in various companies, from Muji stores to Nike shoes. Now that it appears the show itself is negligent with its facts and sources, it is again the talk of the day on Chinese social media. Is the pot calling the kettle black?

World Consumer Rights Day took place earlier this week, and became a trending topic on Sina Weibo (#微博315#) with the release of an annual consumer rights report and a special CCTV program dedicated to protecting consumer rights and uncovering malpractices by companies, called ‘3.15 Night’ (#315晚会#).

The CCTV ‘315 Night’ or ‘consumer day show’ is an annual TV show aired on March 15, focused on naming and shaming various brands and companies.

This year marked the show’s 27th anniversary. As the show featured somewhat more controversial items than it did in previous years, it became the most-discussed topic on Chinese social media on Wednesday and Thursday.

The program revealed several product-related issues that had China’s netizens both worried and skeptical, triggering thousands of shares and reactions across Weibo.

Products from the area of Japan’s Fukushima disaster

One of the program’s items focused on products from those regions in Japan affected by the nuclear crisis of 2011. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the Chinese government introduced various laws to ensure consumer safety and prohibited the import of Japanese products from those areas in Japan affected by nuclear pollution.

But the Chinese TV show now revealed how, six years after the crisis, Japanese food products from the banned areas are allegedly sold in China by several large e-commerce platforms and stores, including Japanese chain store Muji.

According to the show, retailers hid the origin of the product by using different or vague new labels stating “made in Japan” rather than the specific area from which China has banned the imports of food.

New labels on top of the original ones to hide specific areas of production? Scene from the CCTV 315 Show.

The products included snacks, baby formula, rice, health food, and others, by brands such as Calbee.

News about the imported products led to much anger and commotion on Chinese social media. “Chinese people deceiving Chinese people! The Japanese people won’t eat it so you import it, you do anything for money!”, some angry commenters said.

China’s ‘Wiki’: Selling lies for money

Another scandal revealed by the 315 show concerns Hudong.com (互动百科), China’s homegrown wiki encyclopedia. The platform was accused of false advertising; the mere payment of 4800 RMB (±700$) allows the verification of any product on the site without any other requirements.

The show reported how a patient with liver cancer found a “magic” medicine on Hudong.com as a “verified product”, allegedly able to cure cancer within seven days. Through this kind of false advertising, especially vulnerable people are susceptible to getting fooled into purchasing fake medicine.

Afterward, Chinese media called Hudong “a trash website with the most misleading advertisement” (“互动百科成最大虚假广告垃圾站”).

The negative effects for companies after being featured on the annual consumer rights show cannot be underestimated; in 2015, Forbes called the show a “public relations nightmares for its victims.”

Air Cushion Nikes without the air cushion

The consumer day show also criticized the brand Nike, alleging that the U.S. company’s shoes advertisements are misleading consumers.

The Nike Hyperdunk shoes were promoted to contain the patented zoom air cushions, but were found to actually contain no ‘air cushion’ at all – despite their high price of 1499 RMB (US$220) per pair.

According to Shanghai Daily, over 60 disappointed buyers complained to Nike. The company has since offered them a full refund.

Pot calling kettle black?

The CCTV show’s Nike item again became a point of discussion on Chinese social media today when sport news platform Fastpass (快传体育) complained that the information and images used by CCTV were completely taken from their website, violating their copyright.

In a new article on the Fastpass website, the author says: “CCTV cited its main evidence from our report of November 26 2016 on inspecting the Hyperdunk 08. Not only did CCTV not mention Fastpass as the source, they even used our images without our authorization and took out our watermark.”

Many netizens were confused that the 315 show itself apparently had some malpractices, while its main purpose is to expose the malpractices of others.

 

“The show is not about ‘protecting consumer rights’ at all it is about knocking out companies in one punch.”

 

The copyright infringement was not the only point of critique on the show on Chinese social media. Various Chinese media also reported today that the show’s accusations on imported products from Japan’s “banned areas” were ungrounded, as the product package address highlighted during the show is only the place where companies are registered – not where their products are produced.

Furthermore, some netizens wondered why certain controversial products were left out this year: “The Samsung phones have batteries exploding one after the other, why did they not focus on that? Where is their integrity and credibility?”, one commenter wrote.

The fact that ‘Chinese wiki site’ hudong.com was harshly criticized by CCTV while Baidu Baike, its biggest competitor, was not, also annoyed netizens. In 2016, Baidu caused huge controversy for offering advertisement space to fraudulent doctors. These practices came to light when the 21-year-old cancer patient Wei Zexi paid 200,000 RMB (31,000US$) for a treatment promoted through Baidu, which later turned out to be ineffective and highly contested. He died shortly after and received much attention on social media, yet the controversy was not named by the CCTV consumer day show.

One Chinese journalist addressed the TV show on Weibo, writing:

“Some people have asked me what’s up with that 315 Muji report. I did not see the show last night as I was on the train. But even if I had seen it, I would have nothing positive to say about the show. Being a journalist for so many years, I can’t stand this show. It is not about ‘protecting consumer rights’ at all. It is about knocking out companies in one punch. Don’t ask me how I know this.”

 

“Perhaps it is not a smart move to throw stones while living in a glass house.”

 

Other commenters also said the show was “fishy”, with many wondering about the selection of the companies it targets, while others are left out. “If they already knew this,” one person said about the alleged imported goods from radiation-polluted areas, “then why would they wait until the night of the show to tell us about it?”

“The show always targets foreign goods, preferably from USA, Japan, and Korea – it not about the product, it is about ideology,” another person (@上善若水之山高) said.

It is not the first time the show has been critized, particularly for bashing foreign brands and products. In 2015, the South China Morning Post also wrote about 315: “(..) the show also had its own “quality problem” – former CCTV financial news channel director Guo Zhenxi, who oversaw 315 Gala, was detained (..) for allegedly taking bribes.”

Overall, many people on Chinese social media simply do not take the show seriously anymore. “Haha, I’ve been hearing all these reports about CCTV 315 on Japanese products these days,” one Weibo user wrote: “You can bash Japanese products all you want, the only thing is that Japanese products undergo very strict supervision and that it’s virtually impossible to bash them!”

It seems that the CCTV show, after running for 27 years, has lost its credibility among the people. Perhaps it is not a smart move to throw stones while living in a glass house; the more critical netizens of today’s online environment can see right through it.

– By Manya Koetse

©2017 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

Manya is the founder and editor-in-chief of What's on Weibo, offering independent analysis of social trends, online media, and digital culture in China for over a decade. Subscribe to gain access to content, including the Weibo Watch newsletter, which provides deeper insights into the China trends that matter. More about Manya at manyakoetse.com or follow on X.

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Wahaha and Jinmailang: the Bottled Water OEM Controversy

Manya Koetse

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What’s in your water? Would a water by any other name taste as good? That’s the main gist of the topic that’s been trending these days after Chinese consumers found out the Wahaha water they purchased was actually produced by Jinmailang, calling it an ‘OEM controversy’ (OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer).

Wahaha Group (娃哈哈集团) is one of the largest food and beverage producers in China. The brand is a beloved one—last year in March, when its founder and chairman Zong Qinghou (宗庆后) passed away, people collectively began buying Wahaha water to show sympathy for the brand and for Zong, who was seen as a patriotic and humble businessman.

Big bottle of Wahaha (meaning “laughing child”) water.

In fact, that movement to pay tribute to Wahaha got a bit out of hand and turned into a grassroots campaign to boycott another water brand: Nongfu Spring, a competitor whose founder, Chinese entrepreneur Zhong Shanshan (钟睒睒), was not considered as patriotic (read more here).

Now, a different kind of ‘controversy’ is unfolding around China’s famous bottled water brand, directly related to last year’s sales boom. Chinese netizens have posted videos and images claiming that the Wahaha purified water they bought was actually produced by Jinmailang (今麦郎)—as stated on the label.

Wahaha water, produced by Jinmailang (今麦郎).

Jinmailang is an entirely separate food enterprise group—mostly known for its noodles—based in Xingtai, Hebei, since 1994. Both Wahaha and Jinmailang produce purified water (纯净水).

The fact that Jinmailang was mentioned on Wahaha’s labels as the producer raised questions: why bother buying Wahaha at all? Consumers might as well buy Jinmailang directly instead of these relabeled bottles? Wahaha is generally more expensive than Jinmailang’s own Blue Label water.

Wahaha’s customer service soon responded, confirming that they had indeed outsourced some of their production to Jinmailang. However, that partnership was terminated in April of this year after certain batches of purified water products failed to pass factory sampling tests (#娃哈哈称已终止和今麦郎代工合作#).

Customer service staff also stated that as long as Wahaha products are purchased through official channels, they comply with Wahaha’s quality standards and are safe to drink.

On May 16, Xinhua News published an interview with Fan Xianguo (范现国), the chairman of Jinmailang, about serving as an OEM for Wahaha. Without mentioning the termination of the partnership, Fan stated that last year, Wahaha’s bottled water sales suddenly soared, and that they began searching for companies that could support them during these peak times while adhering to their strict quality requirements – otherwise they would not be able to meet market demand.

Producing 1.2 billion bottles of water for Wahaha. Jinmailang’s xinua interview.

Jinmailang stepped in around June 2024, promising to support Wahaha’s production. During the peak season, they even prioritized Wahaha’s orders over their own. Over the course of a year, they produced 1.2 billion bottles of water for the company. Speaking about their own brand, Fan stated that they keep their prices as low as possible by minimizing their profits. One bottle of water only gives them 0.02 RMB ($0,0028) profit.

The interview seemed to cause a shift in online sentiments. Many netizens now praised Jinmailang for its response and for stepping in, viewing the cooperation as an example of domestic brands supporting one another.

Some suggested that Wahaha had betrayed Jinmailang by emphasizing the termination of their contract rather than acknowledging how the company had stepped in to help during a time of need.

At the same time, others applauded how Jinmailang turned the situation to its advantage by using it as an opportunity to promote its own brand.

“I’m switching to Jinmailang from now on, it’s way more cost-effective!” one comment read.

Especially since last year’s “water wars”, it’s clear that consumers’ choice of water is about more than quenching thirst alone — it’s also about which brand’s story resonates with them. As the peak season for bottled water is approaching, the OEM controversy comes at an especially unfortunate time for Wahaha. It’s Jinmailang that now seems to be having the last laugh in this OEM controversy.

 
By Manya Koetse

(follow on X, LinkedIn, or Instagram)

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.

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

‘Lai Dou Lai Le’: IShowSpeed Debuts in Chinese Online Commercial

Manya Koetse

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🔥 A version of this story also appeared in the Weibo Watch newsletter. Subscribe to stay in the loop.

The China tour of American Youtube star IShowSpeed (Darren Watkins Jr.) is still echoing on Chinese social media—the hype hasn’t quieted down just yet, especially now that the popular livestreamer launched his very first Chinese commercial recently, just before the May Day holiday.

It’s an online commercial for China’s dairy giant Yili, and—in line with IShowSpeed’s high-energy livestream—it is entertainingly chaotic. Watkins himself posted the video on his Weibo account on April 30.

In China, Watkins is known as 甲亢哥 (Jiǎ Kàng Gē), which literally means “Hyperthyroidism Brother.” Hyperthyroidism is a condition where the thyroid is overactive, leading to symptoms like restlessness, a rapid heartbeat, and high energy levels. Due to Watkins’ fast-paced livestreams and his reputation for running, screaming, and jumping around, the nickname is a tongue-in-cheek reference that fits him well.

The commercial also suits him, as it is a bit of a rollercoaster. It begins like a typical celebrity endorsement, with Watkins promoting a dairy drink, but quickly shifts into a quirky narrative. In it, Watkins appears god-like, watching over people from a mountaintop and encouraging them to try new things. The ad then morphs into a music video before ending with some inspirational words from the YouTuber himself. Watch the commercial here.

The slogan used in the commercial is “lái dōu lái le” (来都来了), along with the English tagline “Enjoy milk, enjoy holiday.”

Lái dōu lái le” (来都来了) is a simple phrase that basically means “You’re already here,” and implies a light-hearted “Why not?” to encourage people to go on and do something (since you’ve come this far), or try something new.

Dao Insights’ Yimin Wang explained it as having a positive and daring tone to try new things that you’d otherwise “wouldn’t, couldn’t, or even shouldn’t,” much like “YOLO” from the early 2010s (link).

On Xiaohongshu, typical responses to the commercial describe it as “creative” and “cute.” More notably, many users see it as proof of how successful Watkins’ tour in China has been. “He’s like a native celebrity in China now,” one commenter remarked.

 
By Manya Koetse

(follow on X, LinkedIn, or Instagram)

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.

©2025 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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What’s on Weibo is run by Manya Koetse (@manyapan), offering independent analysis of social trends in China for over a decade. Subscribe to gain access to all content and get the Weibo Watch newsletter.

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