On September 17, Consumer Reports revealed that authorized Yonghe Soy Milk stores on an e-commerce platform were exposed for posting numerous suggestive short videos to drive traffic. The plots had little to do with soy milk products, sparking controversy among netizens.
The account involved was the Yonghe Soy Milk Instant Drink Flagship Store. The video plot included domestic scenes between a man and a woman: the woman placed her legs on the man, followed by shots transitioning to a bathroom featuring lace camisoles and changing into black stockings. Only in the latter half of the video was there an abrupt shift to promoting soy milk products.
Many netizens complained in the comments: "What does changing stockings have to do with soy milk?" and "Is Yonghe Soy Milk really using suggestive content now?"
Similar content also appeared on the Yonghe Soy Milk Light Food Flagship Store, where videos started with waking-up scenes featuring scantily clad female streamers, also relying on plotlines to attract traffic.
Notably, the Yonghe Soy Milk Instant Drink Flagship Store has even more followers than the official Yonghe Soy Milk Flagship Store.
Business registration data shows thatThe operating entity of the Yonghe Soy Milk Instant Drink Flagship Store is Hangzhou Kuibamao Trading Co., Ltd., while the Yonghe Soy Milk Light Food Flagship Store is operated by Hangzhou Weiwo Trading Co., Ltd.
the two third-party companies have no equity connection with Shanghai Yonghe Food Technology Co., Ltd., the main entity behind the Yonghe Soy Milk brand.
In response to the controversial videos above, Shanghai Yonghe customer service clarified that any store labeled as a "Flagship Store" is an official brand supply channel.
Regarding the allegations of suggestive content in authorized accounts' videos, customer service stated that an internal investigation would be launched. The brand has a dedicated department for daily monitoring of authorized account content and will report the issue to the relevant person in charge. "We will forward this matter accordingly."