The hashtag #315 market regulation in action# has been trending on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media platform, during the third week of March. Many brands have faced severe backlash on social media for violating consumer rights. This is in anticipation of the annual “315 Gala” hosted by China Central Television on Consumer Rights Day. The annual gala is held to inform consumer rights and expose fraudulent products and disappointing services of businesses.
Scandal rocks Western-style restaurant chain during annual 315 Gala
Blue Frog Bar and Grill (蓝蛙), a western-style restaurant chain founded in 2002, has been under the spotlight of criticism after a journalist went undercover to reveal the chaos in the back kitchen of the internet-famous restaurant. The restaurant is a branch located in Beijing You Tang Shopping Center (北京悠唐购物中心). The journalist’s video footage shows that the kitchen staff used expired vegetables and rotten avocados. Besides, they cleaned the knife and trash bin with the same towel. Despite the high average cost of a meal at Blue Frog, around 150 RMB, the restaurant’s quality was far from satisfactory.
Netizens have expressed strong reactions to the video clips, with many vowing not to patronize internet-famous restaurants again. “I am not going to these internet-famous restaurants anymore,” a netizen from Shanghai commented. Another netizen from Hebei shed some light as to the root cause of the concurring problems of the catering industry, “The biggest hidden danger of catering brands is that it is difficult to standardize the operation process as well as quality control, proving that one bad apple spoils the barrel.”
315 Gala brings attention to market regulation in China
- The hashtag #315 market regulation in action# was trending on Weibo in anticipation of China Central Television’s annual “315 Gala” on Consumer Rights Day.
- Many brands have faced severe backlash on social media for violating consumer rights.
- Blue Frog Bar and Grill, a western-style restaurant chain, has been under criticism after a journalist’s video footage showed the use of expired vegetables and rotten avocados in the back kitchen.
- Netizens have expressed strong reactions, with many swearing off internet-famous restaurants, and one netizen pointing out the difficulty of standardizing operations and quality control in the catering industry.
