0 nicotine

0 cigarette tar

There is only tea in cigarettes

Wearing the halo of "smoking cessation product"

Sold well on Taobao Pinduoduo

Cordyceps sinensis

Little Bear Meow

Li Qun

...

Netizens pointed out that

the e-commerce platform "looks like famous brands"

and "plays tricks"

Again Harvesting the "IQ tax"

Alternatives to traditional cigarettes?

Is it beneficial to the human body?

Experts speak bluntly

Smoking tea and cigarettes

is also harmful to health

Wandering in the gray area

Who is coming? Supervision

Place an order for "Cordyceps sinensis"

Receive "Cordyceps sinensis"

Mr. Hao, a citizen, saw a company called "Craftsmanship" on Pinduoduo APP The store "Home Tea Cigarettes" posted an order link: Selling "Cordyceps" cigarettes.

Tea cigarette page advertisement on Pinduoduo

Mr. Hao thought these were different products of the same brand, so he immediately placed an order and bought a pack, but he did not expect to receive " Cordyceps sinensis".

The goods are wrong! This is obviously "selling dog meat over sheep's heads" and deceiving consumers!

The "Cordyceps sinensis" received by Mr. Hao

Mr. Hao said that he negotiated with the store many times afterwards, but the other party refused to return the product for a refund. After he complained, the store removed the product from the shelves.

The order was placed for “Cordyceps Sinensis”, why did the product received be “Cordyceps Sinensis”? In response to this issue, in the transaction chat record, the merchant argued:

"Title" and "product name" are not the same thing! Putting "Cordyceps" in the title does not mean that what is being sold is "Cordyceps". The real name of this tea cigarette is "Cordyceps sinensis".

The merchant also claimed that "Cordyceps sinensis" has a registered trademark and is not a fake.

Transaction chat history

Negotiations were fruitless, and Mr. Hao complained to Pinduoduo again. On December 7, Pinduoduo’s customer service responded:

“Cordyceps sinensis” is not fake and cannot be returned or refunded. Consumers are advised not to purchase similar products in the future.

In addition, Pinduoduo refuses to provide consumers with the merchant’s corporate registration name and registration information.

Please call Pinduoduo’s customer service hotline to request an interview. However, after many days, as of press time, there was still no reply from Pinduoduo.

Following “cigarette brands”

Wandering in “gray areas”

Help Jun’s investigation found that on major e-commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo and Taobao, , there are a large number of shops selling tea cigarettes, with prices ranging from tens of yuan per pack to hundreds of yuan per pack.

These stores all state in their advertisements that they are "smoking cessation products". "No nicotine" and "no tar" are the two special features of tea cigarettes, emphasizing that the only raw material is tea.

Tea Cigarette Promotional Advertisement

Although "Tea Cigarette Selling" has cleverly circumvented the prohibition of "selling cigarettes on the Internet without permission is an illegal business activity", the helper is still It was found that many tea and cigarette products currently sold online are "similar to famous brands", and the registered names are very similar to well-known "cigarette brands". In addition to the "Cordyceps sinensis" bought by Mr. Hao, there are also "Yuxi", "Liqun", "Little Bear Meow", "Honghuotashan" and so on.

"Tea cigarette brand" and "cigarette brand" are very similar

In terms of product titles, many stores use the guise of "cigarette brand" to confuse the public. When you click on the details page, some stores actually publish a "Legal Statement" at the bottom, saying that "the title and picture of this product are purely operational and technical traffic drainage settings."

The product title is only used to cater to buyers’ search habits and does not represent the efficacy and characteristics of the product itself.

Being able to quit smoking is “unreliable”

Smoking tea cigarettes “hurts the body”

Help you meet during the live broadcast of a tea cigarette shop in Pinduoduo I saw an anchor shouting in front of the camera:

Click the link below to buy "Li Qun"! Tea cigarettes are not cigarettes, and tea cigarettes do not cause any harm to the human body.

Are tea cigarettes a "smoking cessation product" or are they reaping an "IQ tax"?

In this regard, Duan Yuxiang, deputy chief physician of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Shanghai Tongren Hospital, believes:

Tea cigarettes have little effect on smoking cessation and are not at all the "doctor-recommended smoking cessation" mentioned in the propaganda. therapy".

The current first-line drugs for smoking cessation are nicotine replacement therapy, varenicline and bupropion.

Duan Yuxiang said that "smoking tea cigarettes can help you quit smoking" is just a marketing gimmick by merchants, and tea cigarettes are not completely harmless to the human body.

She specifically pointed out:

Tea leaves will still produce smoke after burning, and incomplete combustion will also produce chemical components that can damage the airways and alveoli.

The temperature of tea leaves increases after burning, which will have adverse effects on the oropharynx, tongue, teeth, etc.

In addition to the health problems mentioned by experts, parents are also worried:

In terms of appearance and packaging, tea cigarette products are almost indistinguishable from real cigarettes; in terms of use, in the final analysis, they are still On "smoking".

It is sold openly on the Internet. Once minors buy it and develop the habit of smoking, it will have extremely negative effects on physical and mental health!

For this reason, citizens called for: There is a blind spot in the supervision of tea and cigarette products. They are not cigarettes but "imitate" cigarettes. They are sidelined and hawked on e-commerce platforms. They urgently need to be regulated and rectified by relevant departments.

Bang Nong Mang Studio

Planning | Qian Junyi

Text | Xia Yiyun

Photography | Respondent Network

Editor | Jiang Yijian, Qian Junyi, Yao Chujie