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Anger brews in Malaysia over Chinese milk tea giant Chagee’s response to ‘rigged’ contest
A TikTok video appears to show company staff tampering with a Chagee lucky draw involving luxury handbags and Apple products
Hadi Azmi
Published: 2:33pm, 20 Nov 2024Updated: 5:43pm, 20 Nov 2024
Chinese milk tea chain Chagee is facing the ire of Malaysians after the company urged customers to remove posts of a TikTok video appearing to show staff tampering with a lucky draw to win luxury handbags and top-end electronic products for themselves.
To commemorate its 7th anniversary last week, Chagee offered luxury handbags from Louis Vuitton and Gucci, and Apple mobile phones, laptops and tablets through ‘Tear & Win’ coupons hidden inside the company’s iconic blue and white cups.
The contest led to long queues at more than 100 Chagee outlets across Malaysia as people flocked to try their luck.
However, trouble began to brew on Monday after a TikTok video went viral showing a staff member allegedly going through the empty cups and putting aside the ones with the top prizes, leading to allegations that the contest was rigged.
X user Mimi Asmara said: “When I saw the video, I thought, ‘The staff couldn’t possibly be that stupid and risk her job.’ ... this contest is rigged.”
Another user of the platform Norazlinda Abraham said: “The prizes don’t exist any more, all taken by your own staff.”
Chagee whipped up further public anger when it privately contacted a user on X who shared the video, telling him to remove it “immediately” or risk legal action, stating that it involved their staff’s privacy.
Chagee Malaysia has held a lucky draw to celebrate its 7th anniversary by offering luxury handbags and Apple products as prizes. Photo: Chagee/X
“Chagee [asked me to] delete the video or else I will be cited for legal action,” X user Naquib said in a post seen by almost 6 million people.
He shared what appeared to be a message from Chagee’s verified X account requesting “that the video to be taken down immediately to respect the privacy of the staff involved or else, we will take legal action ya”.
A second but softer online request by Chagee urged other users to remove their reposts over privacy concerns.
Malaysian online users, however, responded by warning that they have supported a boycott of Starbucks for more than a year, which has hit the American coffee chain’s business.
The boycott has led to the company suffering four consecutive quarters of losses in Malaysia and closing 50 of its 400 branches in the country.
Starbucks, McDonald’s and other US-based food and beverage chains have faced backlash in Malaysia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia due to their perceived connections to Israel. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Malaysia - the Malaysian chapter of the global pro-Palestinian boycott organisers – do not officially blacklist Starbucks and McDonald’s but is supportive of the movement to shun these chains.
A Starbucks outlet in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Azneal Ishak
On X, user Mubin said Chagee should not anger the public, reminding the chain that Malaysian customers have plenty of options in the country’s crowded tea market.
“It would be easy to take down a company,” he said.
Founded in Yunnan, China, in 2017, the brand has seen a meteoric rise in Malaysia despite intense competition from Taiwanese chains like Chatime, Gong Cha and local favourite Tealive.
Responding to the fallout, Chagee apologised and “deeply regret any negative experience” over the incident.
“We are currently conducting a detailed investigation to better understand the situation and, if necessary, will take appropriate action in line with our values,” Chagee said.
“Your trust is incredibly important to us, and we are committed to learning and improving to continue delivering the best experience possible,” it added.
KFC Malaysia temporarily closes some outlets amid anti-Israel boycott
The company did not immediately respond to a request by This Week in Asia for comment.
Other online users like Armani Zul said that companies “never learn” and mentioned local coffee chain Zus Coffee, which had to apologise twice to the Malaysian public after it partnered with sportswear giant Adidas, which has been boycotted for its relations with Israel.
“Zus almost ended up the same way, but at least they quickly realised their PR was a mess and fixed it,” he said.
