Comics/Li Xiaojun
□ Zhang Shoukun, reporter of this newspaper
"The first high-end self-service in Beijing and Shanghai" "As long as it is more than 700 yuan, you can check in high-end self-service"...
In the promotion video of a self-service hot pot, the restaurant scene is very high-end luxury, one-to-one butler service, peeling shrimp, cutting meat, the waiter is online throughout the process, diners only need to sit in the position and move their mouths; On the buffet counter, hundreds of high-quality ingredients are neatly arranged, such as large pieces of Boston lobster, tender eastern star spots, fist-sized abalone, and piles of salmon fillets.
Since the second half of last year, this promotional video has been available almost everywhere on short video platforms. However, Mr. Wang from Shanghai recently went to the store to consume and found that the grade of the ingredients in the store was seriously inconsistent with the merchant's promotion.
Mr. Wang's experience is not unique. Nowadays, when you open short videos, people can often swipe various shop exploration videos, in which shop exploration bloggers claim that they can enjoy a variety of high-end ingredients at very affordable prices. But in fact, sometimes customers and bloggers are obviously going to the same store, but they can eat a lower-quality buffet.
In this regard, experts recently interviewed by the "Rule of Law Daily" reporter called for businesses to win the trust of consumers with word of mouth and quality, and should not use false publicity to obtain traffic; Shop-visiting bloggers should be truthful about their dining experience and not make false claims. At the same time, regulatory authorities should strengthen supervision, establish strict management systems and punishment mechanisms, promptly investigate and deal with false publicity behavior, protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and promote the healthy development of the industry.
Promotional videos are enticing
In-store services have shrunk significantly
"Bloggers eat so much and good, expensive high-end ingredients are available in unlimited quantities, and I spend the same money, why can't I enjoy these services?" Mr. Wang said that the valuable peony shrimp and crayfish are gone, only frozen shrimp; King crab and Boston lobster shrunk and did not have a whole one; The fish flesh of the East Star Spot is scattered and collapsed... The seafood section is fresh, and the dessert area is made of vegetable cream. In addition, the waiters are understaffed and the quality of service is average.
Later, Mr. Wang looked at the review page of a review software and found that in addition to the first few pages were praises, many of the latter were complaints about poor experience, and there were many doubts recently under the promotion video that let him "plant grass".
It's okay to promote your own restaurant, but the quality of ingredients and service has dropped significantly compared to the promotional video, which is unbearable for many consumers. On social platforms and business comment areas, many consumers complained: "Did you use all the money to buy ingredients to invite bloggers to eat?" ”
So, if the dishes in the cafeteria are inconsistent with the content of the promotional video, can it be determined that the merchant has false publicity?
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society, told reporters that false propaganda can be divided into false propaganda and misleading propaganda, the former is fiction and fabricated information; The latter refers to the fact that the information itself is truthful, but after being deliberately orchestrated, is misleading and deceptive. If the propaganda content reaches the level of deceiving and misleading consumers and further affecting their trading choices, it should be considered to constitute false publicity.
Ren Chao, a professor at the School of Economic Law of East China University of Political Science and Law, believes that the promotional content of the short video does not match the actual dishes in the store, which is suspected of violating relevant provisions such as the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, and infringing on consumers' right to know and choice. Consumers can ask merchants to provide relevant products and services in accordance with the video promotion, and if they can't, they can request a refund. It may also constitute fraud if a merchant knowingly deceives consumers with fake video content. Once fraud is constituted, consumers can claim compensation of three times the price, and if the amount of compensation is less than 500 yuan, it will be calculated as 500 yuan.
Transfer flowers and trees for commission
False propaganda is repeatedly banned
In addition to merchants on short video platforms or paying shop bloggers to publicize, some shop exploration bloggers will even take the initiative to help businesses do publicity uninvited.
According to industry insiders, short video marketing is a popular publicity method at present, and some Internet celebrity bloggers can even reach cooperation with merchants, and if consumers place orders through the link in the video, bloggers can earn corresponding commissions. With the popularity of this marketing method, at present, some "cloud exploration store" bloggers who have never visited the site will pick up some materials through other channels, cobble together promotional videos, and post them on personal social platforms to earn traffic. The videos they post can sometimes be counterproductive.
"A buffet of less than 100 yuan, crayfish, abalone, crabs, salmon are unlimited to eat, the purchase link is in the lower left corner, brushed friends hurry to stock up on a wave, this benefit does not know which day it will be gone." At the beginning of April this year, Ms. Zhao from Qingdao, Shandong Province, was very excited after swiping this shop visit video on her mobile phone, and immediately purchased two self-service barbecue meal coupons through the link, each 79.99 yuan.
But when she came to the cafeteria, her full expectations instantly turned into disappointment: "The abalone and salmon in the video are not available in the store, mainly Chinese food and barbecue." Crayfish are available, but they are not the spicy crayfish advertised, they are much smaller and need to be cooked by themselves. ”
In fact, the cafeteria was also a victim. The restaurant responded that it had never advertised an unlimited amount of crab, salmon and other foods in the store, because its own pricing led to very low margins and could not be supplied. Although the name of the video taken by the blogger who visited the store that Ms. Zhao saw was the same, it was actually a chain store of the same brand in other regions, and they did have these ingredients, but the price of the buffet was also much higher.
The staff said that this kind of unverified video not only made consumers feel deceived, but also made merchants victims. In the message below the short video, some bloggers admitted that they used videos from other stores, and the video was sent out the day before the store opened.
In Ren Chao's view, regardless of whether the blogger is hired for the store or collects fees, even through product introduction, experience sharing, consumption evaluation, etc., as long as the blogger directly or indirectly promotes products or services, his behavior constitutes Internet advertising, and the blogger's behavior should be subject to the Advertising Law and Internet Advertising Management Measures, and shall be responsible for the authenticity of the advertisement content, must not contain false or misleading content, and must not deceive or mislead consumers. Otherwise, the market supervision department can impose administrative penalties on them, and consumers can also require them to bear civil compensation.
If the blogger is hired by the store and charges a fee for false publicity, Ren Chao believes that he should share joint and several liability with the store, and even bear the responsibility of first compensation under certain circumstances. According to Article 56 of the Advertising Law, where advertising agents or advertisement publishers fail to provide the true name, address, and effective contact information of advertisers, consumers may require advertising agents and advertisement publishers to compensate them in advance.
The reporter learned that it is not uncommon for businesses to be overwhelmed in the early days of opening, and after the drainage is completed, they will "change the tanuki for the prince", and finally be punished for false publicity, but why is the wind of false publicity repeatedly prohibited?
"This is due to the strong concealment of false propaganda at buffets, which is often difficult for regulatory authorities to take the initiative to discover, and there are certain controversies and difficulties in identification." Ren Chao believes that the videos promoted by bloggers visiting the store often carefully select lighting, angles, clips, etc., and merchants and bloggers will use this as an excuse to say that they are inherently different from reality to a certain extent. At the same time, consumers' awareness of rights protection is weak, and the low cost of illegal activities by merchants also encourages false publicity.
Strengthen supervision and severely punish in accordance with law
Continuously optimize the consumption environment
If the shop-visiting blogger's shop-visiting video misleads consumers and disrupts the order of fair competition in the market, what measures can consumers and businesses take to protect their rights?
According to Wang Xu, a senior partner at Beijing Yinghe Law Firm, merchants can directly negotiate with bloggers to claim compensation or remove false promotional content. Where consumers' rights and interests are harmed, they may complain and report to the local consumer association or other relevant departments, requesting that the false publicity behavior of the blogger be investigated and handled. Where false advertising or false publicity under the Unfair Competition Law is constituted, consumers and merchants may complain and report to the market supervision department. If the false publicity behavior of the blogger has caused actual losses to consumers or merchants, he can sue the court and demand that he bear the corresponding compensation liability.
On May 16, the China Consumer Association released the Annual Report on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests in China (2022) in Beijing, proposing to intensify the crackdown on false publicity, counterfeiting and selling, price gouging and other behaviors that infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and continue to optimize the consumption environment.
How to solve the long-standing false propaganda of buffets?
Ren Chao believes that different platforms and different entities should bear corresponding responsibilities for this. Merchants should operate in good faith, and should not use false publicity to obtain traffic, but should provide products and services that match the content of the promotion, and win the trust of consumers with word of mouth and quality. Consumers should enhance their awareness of self-protection, strengthen their understanding of the buffet industry, know the reasonable scope of prices and services, protect their legitimate rights and interests in a timely manner, and take the initiative to complain or report the situation to the regulatory authorities if they encounter false publicity. Bloggers should maintain an objective and fair attitude, truthfully reflect their dining experience, and must not make false publicity or deliberately mislead consumers; Short videos promoting goods or services should comply with relevant laws and regulations, not deceive or mislead consumers, and conspicuously indicate the word "advertisement" in the content.
"Regulatory authorities should strengthen supervision, establish strict management systems and punishment mechanisms, promptly investigate and deal with false publicity behavior, protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and promote the healthy development of the industry." Ren Chao said.
In the interview, some consumers believe that creating a good and healthy shop exploration ecology cannot only rely on law enforcement departments, and short video platforms should also make a difference. In this regard, some of the platform's official customer service replied that for videos whose promotional content is inconsistent with the actual situation, users can complain and report, and the platform official will crack down on such behaviors with measures such as warnings, removal of videos, account downgrade, and ban on submissions. At the same time, the platform calls on bloggers to uphold the principle of objectivity and truthfulness and truthfully reflect their personal consumption experience.
In this regard, Ren Chao also believes that short video platforms should establish and improve management systems, formulate corresponding regulations on online community autonomy, strengthen the review of content, and prevent false publicity and misleading consumers.
Source: Rule of Law Daily