A promotional event by US-based coffee chain Starbucks in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province told Chinese influencers not to mention "Made-in-China" and "Chinese coffee" during promotions, local media outlet hsw.cn reported on Saturday, which triggered disputes on Chinese social media.
A social media influencer surnamed Wang said he noticed Starbucks was hiring influencers worldwide to promote its products via video clips, and he was selected and invited into a WeChat group for promotions, according to the report.
However, video shooting requirement in the WeChat group showed that some words including "Made-in-China" and "Chinese coffee" should not be mentioned in the promotional clips in order to focus audiences' attention on the products.
"The remark was made by a video reviewer in the group and was sent to multiple groups for this promotional campaign, which aroused anger," said Wang, noting that some influencers said they don't understand why they cannot mention "China" in their own country. They then quit the campaign.
A Starbucks employee said via the customer service hotline on Saturday that there will be special personnel to respond to the issue, said the report.
