It seems that Weilong, a marketing master, has changed its packaging again. Recently, some consumers discovered when shopping that many of Weilong's product packages were printed with "Yue Ma", "thief big", Although the advertising slogans such as "tough" are very eye-catching, many netizens said that the consumer group of this spicy strip product is mainly teenagers. This slogan feels like a vulgar borderline. Is it consistent with the purpose of advertising? Will word standards have an impact on the physical and mental health of teenagers?
As expected, the development of things was not that simple. On March 30, Weilong issued an official statement to apologize, saying that it would stop the production of the controversial copywriting packaging and at the same time optimize the layout copywriting and design. Henan Luohe Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, to which Weilong belongs, has intervened in the investigation. It seems like this is going to be a big deal! The product details page of Weilong Food flagship store has been rectified. The product packaging involving the controversial copywriting is no longer visible. The packaging on the product display page of the store has advertising words such as "spicy", "chewy" and "dry goods". .
1. Is this kind of marketing advertisement illegal?
I don’t know when this kind of “homophonic meme” with vulgar taste became popular in the advertising industry. The phenomenon of skirting around marketing advertising like Weilong has happened for a long time. For example, previous advertisements for Coconut Palm Juice were marketed with a plump female figure, and the product packaging had an image of a plump female figure printed on it. They even use bold and ambiguous copywriting such as "Tender and juicy, do you want it?" What’s even more outrageous is that Juewei Food used titles such as “It’s not illegal to look for ducks all the way” and other obviously sexually suggestive titles to promote Double Eleven. As everyone knows, "looking for ducks" is not illegal, but it is illegal for you to use your product advertising slogan in this way.
According to Article 3 of my country’s Advertising Law, advertisements should be true and legal, and express advertising content in a healthy form. At the same time, Article 9 once again clarifies that advertisements must not contain obscene, pornographic, gambling, superstition, horror, or violent content. If there is any violation, the market supervision and management department will order to stop publishing advertisements and impose a fine of not less than 200,000 yuan but not more than 1 million yuan on the advertiser.
2. Should we still choose their products?
In fact, whether you continue to eat Weilong products mainly depends on whether the quality of their products passes the test. Is there anything more in line with the tastes of consumers? Looking back at the past, in 2005, the spicy tiao industry was growing wildly. Some illegal and illegal workshops were exposed by CCTV, and the spicy tiao industry immediately ushered in a cold winter. At this time, Weilong relied on the advanced production lines and quality management systems at the time to quickly occupy the large gaps vacated in the market, completing the first step of expansion of its spicy strip empire. In 2010, it launched a number of popular products such as Qizui Shao and Qizui Dried Tofu. At this time, Weilong's many collaborations with many celebrities not only made it famous, but also changed the stereotype that spicy strips were just low-end snacks. From 2015 to 2016, Weilong proactively upgraded its product packaging. It adopts the most advanced, hygienic and environmentally friendly aluminum foil and aluminum film packaging in the industry.
But in the next few years, the company Weilong seems to have changed. In 2018, an announcement from the Hubei Provincial Food and Drug Administration showed that among the 21 batches of unqualified samples it sampled, , Weilong Food and many other products are on the list. In addition, Weilong Food was inspected by market supervision and administration departments in many provinces and found that sorbic acid and its potassium salt and dehydroacetic acid and its sodium salt were added to its products as preservatives.
Weilong, a company, carved its way through its own excellent product quality and hygiene standards during the darkest period of the spicy strip industry. Years of development are indeed hard-won. I have been a "fan" of Weilong Food for many years. I sincerely hope that they can stick to their original intention and catch everyone's attention in marketing in a timely manner, but this can only bring short-term traffic. Products are still the foundation for the survival and development of a company. Don't really ruin the reputation of your products and let consumers say: "It's not easy to say I love you."