China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Ofo’s Bike Sharing Services Spark Outrage on Chinese Social Media for “Giving Privileges to Foreigners”

Apparently, all it takes is to be an American to get your deposit back from Ofo?

Published

7 years ago

December 15, 2018

Gabi Verberg

First published December 15 2018, 21:15 China Standard Time

When one man dreaded waiting forever on the phone with Ofo’s customer service to get a deposit back, he decided the “foreigner reporting strategy,” and it allegedly worked. It is a story that is now going viral on Chinese social media, where netizens are outraged about the company’s “unfair treatment” of customers.

When one Chinese Ofo customer decided he did not feel like waiting forever on the phone to get his deposit of 199 yuan back, he decided to go “foreign.” Changing his account details, he pretended to be a man from California living in China for the past three years and sent an email to Ofo in English, Tencent News and other Chinese media report. Not only did he immediately get his deposit back, the company even sent him an apology letter.

For over a year now, the Ofo bike sharing service company is facing financial troubles which have forced the company to lay off workers and have made it extra difficult for Ofo users to get a refund of their 199 yuan ($29) deposit.

As reported by Technode earlier this month, amidst recent reports on Ofo’s alleged nearing bankruptcy and rumors of an acquisition by ride-hailing giant Didi, users have rushed to get their deposits back.

In the CCTV2 Economic News (经济信息联播) programme on December 3rd, Ofo users told reporters that the company’s app now only has a “top up” credit button in its settings, and that the button for “getting a refund of deposit” had been removed. When people tried calling the service center of the company, many got no response, despite numerous attempts.

Ofo was founded in 2014 and first launched its services in Beijing in 2015. Ofo bikes can now be found in many cities across China, where users first pay a deposit and can then unlock and track bikes, which can be rented for one yuan by the hour, using the smartphone app.

Now, the news has gone viral of the Chinese man who not only got his deposit refunded, but even received an apology letter from Ofo. All it allegedly took for him to succeed is pretending to be a foreigner.

When the Chinese man, who goes by the username “@ztj93,” had heard that he had to go through much trouble to get his deposit back, he pretended to be an American and used Gmail to write an email to Ofo in English, of which he took a screenshot and reposted it on his Weibo account. Within a day, the money was sent back to his Alipay-account, and a letter of apology was sent to his email.

The email from “ztj93” sent to Ofo on the 13th of December, at 3:51 pm, as shared on social media:

Ofo’s reply on the 14th of December, at 10:03 am:

When the man shared his success online, news went viral immediately.

At the time of writing, the hashtag “Pretend to be foreign and Ofo refunds immediately” (#假装外国人ofo秒退押金#) has received over 140 million views on Weibo.

Many netizens praise the man for his clever approach and congratulate him with his success, while also condemning the Ofo company for their “unfair treatment” of customers, with some even expressing their hopes for the company to go bankrupt as soon as possible.

By now, the original poster has placed a letter on his Weibo account in which he expresses his surprise with the fact that Ofo actually responded to him and that he got his money back, but also with the fact that the news has blown up on Weibo as it has. The man also explains that he is a long-time user of Weibo and that he since long has used the international Weibo version (it not clear at time of writing where the man exactly adjusted his profile details and if it was on Ofo or on Weibo).

He writes that although initially, it was just funny to him, he now has mixed feelings about the entire incident; on the one hand, he is happy that he has his money back, he writes, but on the other hand, he says that it makes him “uncomfortable” knowing that Ofo might give a preferential treatment to foreigners.

While he understands people’s anger about this, he writes, he also says that this anger should stay within “reasonable realms,” which it, apparently, has not. The poster has since deleted his Ofo posts, saying he knew the power of Weibo, but that he did not expect his post to be so influential.

On Saturday night (China time), Chinese media outlet Pear Video published a video on the issue in which two spokespersons for Ofo state they do not know about the incident and will look into it. Later, the phone for Ofo’s PR services was allegedly not able to be reached again.

By Gabi Verberg and Manya Koetse, with contributions from Miranda Barnes
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Gabi Verberg

Gabi Verberg is a Business graduate from the University of Amsterdam who has worked and studied in Shanghai and Beijing. She now lives in Amsterdam and works as a part-time translator, with a particular interest in Chinese modern culture and politics.

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Wahaha and Jinmailang: the Bottled Water OEM Controversy

Published

1 month ago

May 16, 2025

Manya Koetse

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

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

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

Published

1 month ago

May 8, 2025

Manya Koetse

🔥 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)

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