A liquor company in China has been selling perfume in what industry experts say is a bid to sniff out a new, younger market online.
Though Luzhou Laojiao, a well-known distiller of baijiu, has been offering the new scent on their website since August, netizens caught a big whiff of the news.
The Luzhou Laojiao exhibition area at the 2017 Shanghai International Wine Fair. The company’s profit plummeted 22% and 74% in 2013 and 2014, but rebounded to growth in subsequent years. Luzhou Laojiao rolled out several new lines of products to attract younger consumers, including herbal tea and liqueur chocolate.
Luzhou Laojiao liqueur chocolate
The company sold through its entire stock of 20,000 units within 48 hours as a result of the social media attention this week, Luzhou Laojiao said on Sina Weibo.
Though bearing a baijiu brand, the perfume skips on the pungent aromas associated with the grain alcohol and instead settles on a floral mix of peach blossom, peony and lilac, according to the product description. It sells for 139 yuan for a 30 ml bottle.
Baijiu industry experts were skeptical of the move. "Luzhou Laojiao is probably trying out new ways to attract more young customers online," commented Sun Yanyuan, a Baijiu expert. "It would be quite difficult for them to cross over into cosmetics… otherwise it is just a marketing move."
Many on Sina Weibo just smelled an opportunity to make a joke. "You'd probably be dead drunk after taking one whiff."