HK brand Vitasoy issues statements to manage PR crisis after boycott calls in China

Hong Kong brand Vitasoy is facing a boycott in China after its memo surfaced where it was caught expressing condolences to the family of one of its employees. The employee in question killed himself on 1 July after stabbing a police officer. According to media reports, after the incident, the company issued an internal memo expressing condolences to the family of the employee, surnamed Leung, who was a 50-year-old purchasing manager.

While the memo did not directly refer to the stabbing, it did spark anger amongst Chinese consumers which led to Chinese actors Gong Jun and Ren Jialun cutting ties with the brand. Both the actors are considered popular idols amongst the youth in China. Actor Gong’s group on Weibo also posted that it “resolutely resists all forms of extreme acts including violence and terrorism”. In the past Gong had endorsed a Vitasoy lemon-flavor drink product.

Ren’s team also said on Weibo "Ren firmly opposes any remarks and actions that violate laws, undermine national unity and stability or harm national interests.”

On platforms such as Weibo, Chinese netizens started movements and hashtags such as “boycott Vitasoy”, “stay away from Vitasoy”, and “Vitasoy get out of China”. Actor Gong’s group on Weibo also posted that it “resolutely resists all forms of extreme acts including violence and terrorism”.

According to a report on Reuters, Vitasoy shares were down 14.6% at HK$25.1 this morning, which is its biggest single-day drop since listing in 1994.

As a move to counter the growing negative sentiment, last Friday night (2 July), Vitasoy expressed its full backing for a police investigation into the incident, as the Hong Kong government characterised it as a “lone wolf-style act of domestic terrorism”. On Weibo, the company also issued a statement, saying the police had visited its office and it fully supported authorities to “investigate the incident under the national security law”.

On Saturday (3 July), Vitasoy issued another statement and it apologised for causing distress in the community. The company said the internal memo had been written by an employee without official approval. It further elaborated that the wording was “extremely inappropriate”, while the company was investigating the incident internally and reserved “the right to take legal action against the related employee”.

Currently, China is a lucrative market for the brand as it accounted for HK$5.01 billion (US$645 million) or 66.7% of its revenue in the 2020 - 21 financial year.

Meanwhile, on home ground Hong Kong, some local netizens accused Vitasoy of kneeling down and went to its Facebook page to leave comments, criticising its stance and response in this incident. The incident took place on 1 July, when Leung stabbed a 28-year-old officer from the Police Tactical Unit outside the Sogo department store at Causeway Bay. After stabbing him, Leung tried to commit suicide and he was confirmed dead later on the same day. 

Meanwhile, according to a report on SCMP, the police has also arrested a man and a woman suspected of using social media to incite violence in Hong Kong. While the police did not say if the case was linked to the attack on 1 July, they said the two took part in “abusive comments and inciting messages” on social media platforms a day after the incident.

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