Livestream retailers get creative with male models after China bans female lingerie models

Chinese online retailers have shown their support to female lingerie models by featuring male models wearing undergarments in their livestream videos. This comes after China banned women from modelling lingerie on livestreams in China as part of an official law against spreading obscene material online. 

To bypass the law, online lingerie businesses have turned to some creative marketing strategies to continue meeting targets by hiring male models to showcase women's lingerie in their livestream videos. A check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw on Douyin that, an online retailer @老婆大人的輕奢閨房 has featured a male model wearing lingerie in its videos, while a female model was promoting the shop's pajamas instead.

The creative move has drawn mixed reactions across Chinese social media as some netizens said on Douyin that they did not understand why the lingerie is worn by a man, while some commented that the lingerie looks better on a male than a female.

“It’s obviously a girl’s lingerie, but girls can't wear that in livestreams. Meanwhile, men who wear that are said to be dedicated. If women wear lingerie on livestreams, they may be blocked or even be sexual harassed.” said another netizen on Douyin.

Don't miss: Chinese coconut milk brand cops flak for livestream promo with dancing women in tight tops

Separately, Chinese coconut milk brand Coconut Palm has coped flak for inviting women in tight tops and shorts to dance and promote its products in a livestream on Douyin back in last October. The brand, which was previously known for falsely claiming its products make women’s breasts bigger, saw women dancing in front of the camera with each holding a can of coconut milk.

A quick check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw discussions emerge across several social platforms questioning why the brand repeated the same mistake despite being fined for false advertising in earlier years.

The milk brand has been fined twice by local authorities in recent years for claiming its products could enlarge women’s breasts in its advertisements, which was said to be against “social graces” and “interfered with public order”, according to SCMP. In 2019, the company admitted publicly that its products could not enlarge women's breasts after a social media backlash over its misleading slogans and adverts featuring busty women.

(Photo courtesy: Douyin account @老婆大人的輕奢閨房)

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