This time, the so-called Li Ning borrowed the new product "Speech Day" and "insulting China", but it is just the self-imagination of some people and they have made the old habit of oversensitivity.
Glacier Think Bank Researcher丨Wei Yingjie
I don’t know what to say recently. Yesterday I was telling my friend that I had nothing to say about the world.
This aspect is because I have written comments for 20 years and feel like I am hollowed out. The original knowledge was not solid enough, and the study was not diligent enough, and some discourse systems seemed to be unable to catch up with this era. On the other hand, it is because it is increasingly unable to understand some problems and phenomena, and it is also increasingly unable to understand some people's ideas and ideas.
The wheel of the era is rolling forward, and it is not shame to admit that it is out of date.
But some things are not complicated, and somehow they can also set off a storm of speech on the Internet. This inevitably makes people feel a little depressed.
For example, the Li Ning new product storm that has occurred in the past two days is an example.
01
Recently, Li Ning Group held a new autumn and winter product show, but some of the clothes were accused of being "Wulian Yi", which resembled the "aggressive style". It was criticized by many netizens on the Internet, angrily scolding, "I treat Li Ning as a domestic product, and Li Ning as a colonel."
▲Li Ning product promotional map (photo/network)
Someone also revealed that the current CEO of Li Ning Group is a Japanese Chinese, asserting that this new product was a cultural invasion deliberately created by the Japanese elements.
Li Ning, who was originally known as a domestic trendy brand and a national enterprise, was regarded as a brand insulting China in a blink of an eye.
Online public opinion even affected Li Ning's performance in the capital market. On Monday (October 17), Li Ning, Hong Kong stocks, plummeted by more than 13%, closing down 4.31%.
In response to this, a senior executive of Li Ning responded on Weibo, "Our consumers have less inherited educational knowledge from the precipitation of Chinese culture." And put on the label and picture of "Hello" to imply that the inspiration for the design of the new product was from ancient Chinese clothing.
However, this statement not only did not let netizens go, but was also considered to be a arrogant education for consumers.
At present, the official Li Ning Group has not yet made a formal response, but judging from past experience, no matter how you respond, Li Ning is a bit miserable this time. It will take some time to restore brand trust and consumer reputation.
To be honest, I don’t like the design style of Li Ning’s series, but generally I will classify this as an aesthetic difference, and will not rise to nationalism and cultural aggression at any time.
does not mean that there is no such thing, but based on rational and logical judgment, which is the most unlikely possibility. Those who often bring out these big words may wish to think about it. What are the benefits of doing this for Li Ning?
As a benchmark for domestic products in the field of sportswear, the Li Ning brand has taken full advantage of "patriotic welfare" in recent years. Especially after the Xinjiang cotton incident, Li Ning was consumed wildly, and some styles of sneakers were fryed to tens of thousands of yuan, with a premium of dozens of times.
has such a good market dividend, why did Li Ning take risks, but he couldn't get along with consumers with national sentiment?
▲Li Ning Group Co-CEO Qian Wei , Japanese Takeshi Kosaka (photo/network)
Li Ning Group Co-CEO Qian Wei is a Japanese Chinese, it is not a secret. It is introduced on Li Ning's official website. But what does this mean? Not to mention whether the CEO knows this new product, has he learned about the style of the new product in advance? As a professional manager , who was poached by Li Ning with an annual salary of tens of millions of yuan, why did he not have to worry about the money and try his best to "sophisticate" a clothing? It makes no sense.
Nothing else is said. Based on these two points alone, I can basically conclude that the so-called "sophisticated" and "insulting China" of new products is just the self-imagination of some people, and they have made the old habit of over-sensitivity.
If we don’t believe it, we can also reasonably speculate from the perspective of “conspiracy theory”. Some people say that this is Li Ning deliberately insulting China, but can it be said that it may also be that some people are deliberately attacking shorting national brands? Otherwise, why did Li Ning, who is the representative of domestic products, get into trouble, and Li Ning's stock price is also suppressed?
You see, isn’t that reasonable? Is there nothing logically wrong? Therefore, sometimes some seemingly convincing arguments cannot withstand logical scrutiny. At least, when the facts are unknown, it is the right way to look at things carefully.
02
By the way, let’s talk about the “additive storm” of Haitian Soy Sauce. This matter is quite similar to Li Ning’s accused of insulting China. It was also a quarrel a few days ago.
Haitian Soy Sauce is a leading enterprise in the domestic condiment industry and one of the national brands. Recently, Haitian soy sauce was exposed. Its soy sauce in the United States did not add any additives, but the soy sauce sold to Chinese people had additives. Haitian Soy Sauce's "double standard" practice has been denounced as hurting the dignity of consumers and national feelings.
▲Haitian Flavor Industry has issued statements twice (photo/Haitian Flavor Industry official Weibo )
Discheming is that Haitian 's response also played the national card, claiming that this was a malicious attack on "made in China" products.
Compared with Li Ning being accused of insulting China, Haitian Soy Sauce was scolded for being "double standards", which is actually quite unfair.
First of all, the domestic food industry allows food additives to be added. Not only are some products of Haitian soy sauce products on the ingredient list, but most soy sauce products on the market also contain additives;
Secondly, the soy sauce sold by Haitian to the United States does not contain additives in accordance with local laws and regulations. The food production standards in different countries and regions are different and cannot be generalized;
Third, Haitian also has zero-added soy sauce products in the domestic market, but some critics intentionally or unintentionally ignore this fact.
This makes the whole incident very suspicious. Why do most soy sauce companies produce soy sauce containing additives, but Haitian has become the target of public criticism?
If the national standard allows addition, and consumers believe that addition should be prohibited, then they should call for modification of the national standard. Why are they just criticizing the company?
Haitian soy sauce has been marketed for many years. What food additives are there on the ingredients list? Why do critics never see them when buying soy sauce? Only then do they feel like they realize it?
There will be something wrong with it. In fact, if bystanders think about it more from these perspectives, they will not be so indignant and angry.
From the Haitian Soy Sauce "double standard" incident and the controversy over Li Ning's new product styling, some common characteristics can be roughly summarized.
One of them, the companies involved are deliberately amplified due to product details problems, which has attracted public attention. The additive problem of
Haitian soy sauce is a common practice in the industry and a compliant production process. The clothing styling issues involved in the Li Ning brand are more about different aesthetic standards and are a "subjective issue".
In fact, Li Ning's new product show not only has green, but also blue, white and black colors. Other colors do not have the so-called "Wulian Yi", but in the eyes of most critics, other colors do not exist.
▲Li Ning's official Weibo tweets (photo/Li Ning's official Weibo)
Secondly, there are suspicious "nationalism" arguments flashing behind the incident. Whether it is caused by online sentiment or institutions shorting it, it can reflect the unusualness behind public opinion.
If this is a spontaneous hot topic of public opinion on the Internet, it means that whenever "nationalism" is involved, it is a problem that hits the sensitive nerves of consumers. If there is a pair of hands behind this to manipulate public opinion, it is enough to show that its technique is so sophisticated and ruthless that a company that has accumulated many years of brand reputation can suddenly become bleak and its market value plummets.
Third, such incidents are not difficult to identify the truth, but companies often cannot argue. The deep reason may be that "political correctness" is unrefutable, or that common sense is obscured by prejudice and reason is overwhelmed by emotions.
The lack of rationality has become a common feature of current online debates. But in many cases, this is often a deliberate thing.
Take Li Ning's new product storm for example. You can see that many short video bloggers made serious comments, most of whom were scolding Li Ning, and even their methods were similar. It’s very simple. Scolding Li Ning can attract more attention and earn traffic. Those who try to say a few fair words like me will often be scolded for “how much money did you take” and “don’t wash it.”
A person caters to emotions, this is just a person's prejudice; a group of people cater to emotions will become a carnival of a mob.
03
34 years ago, 25-year-old Li Ning lost the Olympic Games in Seoul and returned home in a defeat.
Li Ning's abnormal behavior disappointed many people who originally admired him. Someone sent him a knotted plastic rope, and the letter reads: Young man Li Ning, you are worthy of being the "dead son of gymnastics" in China, just hang yourself.
At this time, Li Ning had won so many honors that the Chinese people had honored seemed to no longer exist and were wiped out.
Those who cursed Li Ning in the past should have grown old if they were alive. However, generations have grown up, human nature is still so bleak, and the double-edged sword of national sentiment is still so ruthless.
What should people say? I really have nothing to say about this.
