Just when the melon-eating public was fiercely denouncing "Ma Yili's endorsement of the explosive brand", Zheng Kai and the milk tea brand "Tea Anchor" he endorsed also surfaced, and their methods were similar to Cha Zhilan.
On the evening of May 18, Mr. Xie, who claimed to be a Beijing franchisee of the milk tea brand "Tea Anchor" endorsed by artist Zheng Kai, broke the news online that "Tea Anchor" was suspected of false investment and defrauded the franchise of huge sums. payment.
Promised opening profit margin of 70%
But the actual monthly income is 500 yuan!
In June 2020, when Xu Hui, who planned to join another well-known tea drink brand, was consulting online, a customer service staff claiming to be from the well-known brand contacted Xu Hui and said that the stores in her area were already saturated. , unable to open a store, then recommended the brand's "high-end upgraded brand" tea anchor to Xu Hui, and emphasized that the brand would become an instant hit if Zheng Kai endorsed it.
Under the guidance of customer service, Xu Hui came to the Nanjing headquarters of the tea anchor brand for inspection. According to Xu Hui's recollection, during the inspection, the company's interior was filled with Zheng Kai's photos, a signing wall, and photos of franchisees taking photos with Zheng Kai. Xu Hui, who had always had a good impression of Zheng Kai, immediately decided to join. After signing the contract, she paid a total of 125,800 yuan in single store franchise fees.
When signing the contract, Xu Hui, the investment director of the tea anchor, promised that the profit margin would reach 70% after the store opened, and the brand would provide equipment, free training and store support.
However, the terms of the franchise contract signed by Xu Hui are far from the brand's verbal promise.
In addition to the franchise fee, Xu Hui also paid store decoration fees of 110,000 yuan, raw material fees of 80,000 yuan, equipment fees of about 60,000 yuan, and store labor and water and electricity property fees. As for the brand Regarding the equipment given by Fang, Xu Hui said that the cost was very low. “They were all pots and pans, not valuable.” In addition, she also paid for the food and lodging of the brand’s store opening instructors in the early stage of the opening.
In November 2020, Xu Hui’s store opened, but its operations continued to make ends meet. According to her, the store’s monthly rent alone is 5,000 yuan, but its monthly revenue is only 500 yuan. During the May Day Golden Week, the store’s daily revenue was only 10-60 yuan.
After realizing something was wrong and taking the initiative to complain, Xu Hui was kicked out of the tea host’s customer service communication group and now has no way to communicate. Currently, Xu Hui is suing the tea host in court for non-performance of the contract.
Mr. Yuan, the total financial loss was as high as one million, and in the end it was unable to maintain operations and had to close its doors.
Sue Cha Anchor and win
But they will not get the compensation back
In fact, some franchisees have sued Cha Anchor’s parent company and won the case, but still Or get the compensation money back.
According to the official website of Tea Anchor, the brand is affiliated to Nanjing Yongmao Catering Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Yongmao Catering"). Tianyancha information shows that Yongmao Catering owns a trademark called "Tea Anchor".
Searching for the keyword "Nanjing Yongmao Catering Management Co., Ltd." on the China Judgment Documents Network, the results *** showed 30 civil judgments and execution rulings, and the earliest publication date can be traced back to June 2020. The executors who applied to enforce the ruling were the franchisees. After they appealed to Yongmao Catering and received the ruling to return a certain franchise fee, they applied to the court to enforce the contents of the ruling.
At present, more than 20 franchisees have sued Yongmao Catering and won the lawsuit and applied to the court for enforcement.
However, according to many franchisees, they have not yet received the compensation they applied for.
According to the aforementioned Mr. Xie from the Beijing franchisee, he broke the news online that the “Tea Anchor” was suspected of falsely attracting investment and defrauding huge amounts of franchise money. According to Mr. Xie’s investigation, more than 700 franchisees were defrauded in one day, resulting in direct economic losses of hundreds of millions. Although many victims successfully sued the "tea anchor" and won the case, the other party has transferred the property, resulting in no property for the court to enforce.
As for why many franchisees have not received refunds after applying for enforcement, the person in charge explained that the company is negotiating with the court on the implementation details, "and will not refuse as the franchisees said." Enforcement. ”
However, the prospects for enforcement are not necessarily clear.
According to the transfer records provided by many tea anchor franchisees, franchisees may still have room to fight for it. Records show that a large amount of franchise fees were transferred to the personal account of Yongmao Catering legal person Dang Yaming.
It is not uncommon for celebrity endorsements to "turn over"
Ma Yili: Cha Zhilan
Recently, the Shanghai police, with the strong assistance of the public security agencies in Hebei, Guangdong and other places, successfully detected Shanghai's first "routine franchise" contract fraud case involves using a fake brand milk tea investment website to attract franchisees and fabricating contract performance capabilities to defraud franchise fees.
The police arrested more than 90 suspects including Jin and Wang, destroyed multiple false investment websites, and seized a large number of false authorization documents, contract documents, word lists, OEM milk tea and other items involved in the case. The amount is more than 700 million yuan.
Du Haitao: Wanglibao
In 2018, the host Du Haitao shot several video advertisements for the online investment platform "Wanglibao". Later, "Wanglibao" became a hit, and Du Haitao As a result, Mr. Mu, a Shandong investor, sued the court and demanded compensation for related losses.
On February 4, 2021, a court in Dongying, Shandong Province has opened a case to hear the case.
However, on May 13, Mr. Mu told the Red Star Capital Bureau, "The court was originally scheduled to open on March 3 this year, but Du Haitao did not appear in court and refused to accept the summons. The case has not yet opened."
Do celebrity spokespersons of explosive brands need to be held responsible?
In recent years, it is not uncommon for celebrity-endorsed products to “turn over”. Some people think that celebrities who charge high endorsement fees should be responsible for the quality of their products or services. There are also people who "cry out injustice" for the spokesperson and think that the celebrity is just a "scapegoat".
Do celebrity spokespersons of explosive brands need to be held responsible? Zheng Boen of Beijing Yingke (Shenzhen) Law Firm said that neither Ma Yili nor Zheng Kai may bear legal responsibility for the losses of franchisees.
According to Article 62 of the Advertising Law, if an advertising spokesperson knows or should know that the advertisement is false but still recommends or certifies the goods or services in the advertisement, the illegal gains shall be confiscated by the industrial and commercial administrative department and shall be fined. A fine of not less than one time but not more than twice the amount of income may be imposed.
"But in fact, it is difficult to prove that the star knew there was a problem with the brand before endorsing it." Zheng Boen analyzed.