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▲recently, xiao yangge and his team have been promoting a mooncake product from the hong kong meicheng brand in multiple live broadcast rooms. photo/screenshot of online video

in the past two days, #hong kong mooncakes with monthly sales of 50 million yuan are not available in hong kong# has become a hot topic, once again sparking heated discussions about live streaming sales.

it is reported that recently, xiao yangge and his team have been promoting a mooncake product of hong kong's meicheng brand in multiple live broadcast rooms. this mooncake series offers different styles including three boxes for 99 yuan and three boxes for 169 yuan, and has achieved considerable sales.

however, some netizens found out that "hong kong meicheng mooncakes" is not what xiao yang said, "this is hong kong's meicheng" and "meicheng is a big brand."the brand operator is actually guangzhou meicheng food co., ltd. according to its official website, the brand was founded in 2019. although it is registered in hong kong, it is not produced in hong kong.

on september 13, the customer service staff of "hong kong meicheng" told the media that the meicheng brand is registered in hong kong and has a trademark registration certificate. "in order to better expand market demand, marketing centers and production bases have been established in guangzhou and foshan." there are currently no offline stores in hong kong.

according to media reports, after the controversy,on the evening of september 14, xiao yangge’s live broadcast room “three sheep” stopped selling meicheng mooncakes.

some lawyers believe that xiao yangge’s sales behavior is suspected of fraud and consumers have the right to demand corresponding compensation.at present, the municipal supervision offices in relevant jurisdictions have intervened in the investigation.(related reading: the "hong kong meicheng mooncakes" that sold out in xiao yangge's live broadcast room are not available in hong kong? the product has been removed from the shelves and the authorities are investigating)

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falsifying origin has long been a routine

whether brother xiao yang is suspected of fraud still needs to be finally determined through legal procedures, but judging from the relevant facts, his behavior in the live streaming process of selling goods is at least irregular.

as we all know, the origin of a product often plays a role in enhancing the brand value. generally speaking, the “made in the usa” and “made in japan” in the past, and “made in china” in some areas now, are themselves a kind of quality guarantee; for example, various local brands, such as yangcheng lake hairy crabs, maotai liquor from maotai town, and moon cakes from hong kong are also like this.

in this context, some "smart" businesses began to think about how to make a profit from it, so there were hairy crabs "bathing" in yangcheng lake and "three thousand wineries" in maotai town, and they used this to play tricks in publicity and promotion. more cautious businesses would come up with some suggestive or misleading brand names, and foreign names became popular for a while.

some even register a company overseas, or even acquire a foreign brand, but place the manufacturing in the mainland. the operation of hong kong meicheng mooncakes should also follow this market logic. strictly speaking, although this is a marketing trick, it is not necessarily illegal, nor does it mean that the product quality is necessarily bad. some of them are also to cope with the helplessness of some consumers' "worship of foreign things" mentality.

however, it is one thing for manufacturers to guide consumers to actively make wrong associations through brand information, and it is another thing for anchors to speak out such imaginations as facts when promoting products. the latter is a flaw and should not have happened.

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why do live streamers keep making mistakes?

specifically regarding this incident involving brother xiao yang, there are two facts that need to be noted.

first, from a horizontal perspective, this kind of irregular preaching during live streaming is not uncommon on live streaming platforms; second, from a vertical perspective, this is not the first time that brother yang has been involved in such controversy. from the "three-no hair dryer" and the wall-breaking machine with false power in 2022, to this year's "fake moutai" and "caotou meat", he has become the "prince of fakes" in the eyes of many people.

if 2019 is counted as the first year of live streaming sales, it has been five years now. but to this day, live streaming sales hosts are still generally "slippery" (a cantonese term for people who are glib and speak sweet words). for example, brother yang is still making mistakes and selling repeatedly, and he is still selling well. this is actually very abnormal and worth thinking about.

why has this kind of chaos in live streaming sales not been effectively managed? there are many reasons behind it.

first of all, most consumers are relatively tolerant of new consumer behaviors such as live streaming and do not take it too seriously; while the platforms focus more on governance by strengthening after-sales services, such as promoting "no-reason returns" and "free shipping for returns", etc. however, how much room for error should be left for the anchors is still worth discussing.

the lack of external supervision and punishment is also an important reason why xiao yang and his friends keep making mistakes. for example, the fake original beef rolls from xian duo yu that xiao yang promoted were reportedly fined 500,000 yuan by the regulatory authorities.

for ordinary businesses, a fine of 500,000 yuan is actually not a low amount. however, for internet celebrities of xiao yangge's level, the sales volume of goods sold through live broadcasts can easily reach tens of millions or even hundreds of millions, and the profits are very considerable. a fine of 500,000 yuan is not enough to serve as a warning.

it should be pointed out that, on the one hand, the punishment needs to be strengthened, but on the other hand, simply increasing the punishment is not a rational way to deal with the chaos. after all, live e-commerce is a new thing and an important way to stimulate domestic demand and promote consumption. both regulators and platforms have the obligation to find a good balance between maintaining the prosperity of the industry and the interests of consumers.

in fact, the interests of all parties, including consumers, are fundamentally the same. if anchors frequently fail and generally violate the rules, it will undoubtedly lead to a crisis of trust in the industry as a whole, and ultimately destroy their own jobs.

from this perspective, even for their own long-term survival and development, xiao yang and his friends should strengthen self-discipline and mutual supervision, and operate honestly without making mistakes.

source: beijing news