preface
The turmoil between Fat Donglai and the Internet celebrity "Chai Yi" has continued to ferment recently, and due to public smears and false accusations, this jade blogger with only 200,000 followers has successfully caught the traffic express train of Fat Donglai.
Yu Donglai, the founder of Fat Donglai, was so angry that he said cruelly: If "Chai Donglai" is not punished, Fat Donglai will be closed. This statement attracted the attention of the whole network and made the incident heat up quickly.
How did "Chai Yiyi" spread rumors about Fat Donglai? Why can a small influencer make a supermarket giant so angry?
Author - mountain
A contest between traffic and reality
Who would have thought that a little-known jade blogger could let Fat Donglai, who has annual sales of nearly 17 billion, fall into the whirlpool of public opinion? This Internet celebrity named "Chai Yiyi" is like a shark that smells blood, and accurately bites the "big fish" of Fat Donglai.
At first, Chai Yiyi, who has 200,000 followers, posted a series of videos on the Douyin platform, claiming that Fat Donglai made a hundredfold profit with low-cost jade, accusing Fat Donglai of the quality of 30,000 pieces of jade that was not even as good as the 3,000 yuan products in his store.
This kind of accusation, which is not supported by any evidence, has quickly fermented because it touched the sensitive nerves of consumers.
What's even more eye-popping is that in the face of Fat Donglai's claim of 5 million yuan, Chai Yanyi not only did not relent, but intensified his words: "Is 5 million a lot?" "Even rose directly to the regional black, claiming that he hated Henan and wanted to open a store at the door of Fat Donglai to fight against it. Behind this almost crazy behavior, a chilling business truth is revealed.
It turns out that bloggers like Chai Yiyi rely on the routines of "rubbing heat" and "creating controversy". Some netizens found that the cost of the bracelets sold by Chai Yiyi live broadcast may only be a dozen, but the price is as high as more than 1,800 yuan.
In the past three months, he has made a profit of 500,000 to 750,000 yuan through live broadcasting, as if he is "doing profiteering things himself, but accusing others of profiteering".
This kind of "pointing a deer as a horse" is not an isolated case. In the Internet era where traffic is king, some Internet celebrities do not hesitate to exaggerate, distort or even fabricate to create controversy in order to attract attention, and use well-known companies as their pedals to attract traffic.
The reason why Chai Yiyi chose Fat Donglai is probably because this Henan supermarket has continued to become popular recently and has become a hotly discussed enterprise model in the country. In his opinion, this is an excellent traffic outlet, as long as you rub it up, whether it is true or not, you can harvest a wave of attention.
When false accusations meet sincere enterprises, when the indifference of traffic monetization is faced with the persistence of business reputation, the significance of this battle has long exceeded its own interests. This is not just a duel between Fat Donglai and an Internet celebrity, but more like a head-to-head confrontation between business integrity and traffic economy. In this confrontation, Fat Donglai chose the toughest way to respond.
Wrathful Guardian
"If Chai Yi's behavior of slandering and hurting others at will be punished, I will take the initiative to close down or leave Fat Donglai this company forever!" On May 3, Yu Donglai's resounding declaration exploded on the Internet. Why was Yu Donglai, who had always been mild-mannered, so provoked to such an extent?
It seems to be just an ordinary business dispute, but behind it is Yu Donglai's defense of Fat Donglai's painstaking efforts for more than 20 years. In the face of Chai Yi's groundless accusations, Fat Donglai did not sit still.
First of all, they quickly disclosed the price standard of jade, promised to fully refund if there was a quality problem, and supported consumers to go to a third-party agency for testing.
Yu Donglai's account was set to private after the exchange of Internet celebrities, and he once said that the other party would close Fat Donglai if he was not punished 2025-05-03 17:00·Jimu News
What's even tougher is that Fat Donglai sued Chai Yiyi in court, demanding compensation of no less than 5 million yuan, and publicly posted the court's acceptance notice. This uncompromising stance has given hope to many companies that have been plagued by online violence but are powerless to fight back.
In fact, Fat Donglai's sales in 2024 will reach 16.964 billion yuan, and the sales in the first three months of 2025 will reach 6.2 billion yuan. The jade sales business accounted for only 0.34% of the total sales, and the gross profit margin was about 20%. This is contrary to Chai Yiyi's claim that "the main profit comes from jade". In the face of such a gap, Fat Donglai's anger can be imagined.
What's even more admirable is that Fat Donglai not only discloses performance data to counter rumors, but also publishes a daily operating data dashboard on the official website to transparently display the sales details of each store and each format to the public. This kind of open and honest corporate culture is rare in the business world.
Yu Donglai once said: Fat Donglai has no secrets, you are a peer, just watch and learn casually, ask whatever you want to know, and we will tell you. This sentence has become the confidence of Fat Donglai who is not afraid of rumors. How can a company that is not afraid of being seen through be afraid of accusations from rumor-mongers?
The official final word
Just as the storm of public opinion intensified, the Douyin platform quickly and decisively "officially announced" the outcome of this dispute. On May 4, Douyin issued an official announcement in response to Fat Donglai's complaint, and took punishment measures such as restricting the posting permission of the "Chai Yi" account.
The platform not only removed 29 allegedly infringing videos of Chai Yanyi, but also banned his account from publishing any videos and others' attention to them. This thunderous approach demonstrates the platform's zero-tolerance attitude towards commercial defamation, and also sets a benchmark for the handling of similar disputes.
Douyin's handling process is quite rigorous. After receiving Fat Donglai's complaint for the first time at 23 o'clock on May 2, the platform immediately started the review process and took the initiative to communicate, requesting to supplement and improve relevant evidence materials, especially the refuting evidence for controversial points such as "profits depend on jade". This reasoned and evidence-based investigation process demonstrates the platform's professional attitude in handling commercial disputes.
Although the one-month ban period seems short, on the short video platform where traffic is changing rapidly, this is enough to extinguish the flame of Chai Yiyi's newly ignited career. What's even more ironic is that when Chai Donglai's true face was revealed, many netizens who had questioned Fat Donglai changed their attitudes and began to criticize Chai for "looking ugly".
This 180-degree shift in netizens' attitudes reflects the public's emphasis on business integrity and aversion to malicious marketing. The results of the Douyin platform have also received unanimous praise from netizens, and many people applauded, believing that this gave the rumor-mongers the punishment they deserved.
It is worth mentioning that the platform not only banned Chai Yiyuan's original account, but also severely banned various fake accounts that quickly appeared.
Some accounts claimed that the main account would start broadcasting 10 minutes after it was blocked, but the live broadcast of this small account was quickly blocked, and the rectification suggestions given by the platform were: "Do not impersonate others in any content such as live broadcast screens, audio, personal introductions, etc., or guide users to consume gifts by imitating or impersonating other people's identities." This kind of practice of drawing wages from the bottom of the kettle has cut off the possible "back road" for rumor-mongers.
With the platform's shot, this farce finally ushered in a happy ending. Fat Donglai has been able to continue to provide high-quality services to consumers, and those who try to gain traffic through rumors have also been duly punished.
This incident is not only a justification for Fat Donglai, but also a wake-up call for the entire industry: although the traffic is heavy, integrity is more expensive. However, it is worth pondering why such disputes occur so frequently. And how can companies protect their business reputations in an increasingly complex cyber environment?
It's not just a supermarket fight
Fat Donglai's experience is by no means an isolated case. In fact, this is the third smear incident that Fat Donglai has encountered recently. Previously, a female Internet celebrity with millions of fans "Sister Pants" claimed that the underwear purchased in Fat Donglai was seriously discolored and caused by allergies, but after testing by a professional institution, the color fastness of the underwear involved fully met the national standard.
Song Qinghui, another economist who calls himself a "native of Henan," accused Fat Donglai of "lacking core competitiveness" and being a "businessman who cheats money on traffic," a scholar who has previously been questioned for smearing Huawei.
This series of attacks has revealed a new form of cyber violence - commercial defamation and extortion in the name of traffic. In the Internet era where traffic is paramount, some self-media and Internet celebrities will "touch" well-known enterprises as a shortcut to obtain traffic and increase revenue.
They know a thing or two about gimmicks and know that a video blaming a well-known company is far more eye-catching than ten pieces of ordinary content.
Why did Fat Donglai become the target of public criticism? Fat Donglai is not only a shopping place, but also solves a large number of local jobs, and its unique business model also enhances the popularity of the city.
Its strategy of high welfare and transparent pricing has undoubtedly moved the "cheese" of some peers who are accustomed to the unspoken rules of the industry. Fat Donglai's existence is like a mirror, reflecting the dark side of some people's hearts that cannot be seen.
In the current online environment, it is difficult for rumors to protect their rights, and the cost of spreading rumors and smearing a company or individual is extremely low.
Fat Donglai's response may be worth learning from all enterprises: first, maintain transparency, Fat Donglai takes the initiative to disclose business data, so that the public can see the truth, second, legal rights protection, decisively resort to law in the face of slander, and do not tolerate any harm, third, platform cooperation, actively cooperate with the platform investigation, provide sufficient evidence, and form a joint force.
This turmoil, which began with the authenticity of jade, eventually evolved into a head-on collision between physical enterprises and the Internet celebrity economy. When the flow bubble meets the hard core power, some clowns will eventually be exposed. The ending of Chai Yiyi confirms the old saying: stealing chickens does not make rice.
More far-reachingly, it provides a lesson for how internet platforms can balance freedom of expression and commercial protection. While protecting users' freedom of speech, platforms should also establish a more complete commercial protection mechanism to effectively deter malicious defamation.
With the in-depth development of the digital economy, the importance of corporate image and online reputation has become increasingly prominent. How to protect corporate reputation and deal with malicious attacks in an open network environment will become a topic that every enterprise must face. Fat Donglai's experience tells us that in the face of online violence, silence is not gold, and only by firmly defending rights can we maintain commercial dignity and consumer trust.
epilogue
The turmoil between Fat Donglai and "Chai Yiyi" finally came to an end, and the timely intervention and clear punishment of the platform party made the rumor-mongers pay the price, and also preserved Fat Donglai, a brand loved by consumers.
This incident is a wake-up call: the Internet is not an illegal place, the determination of enterprises to maintain their business reputation is worthy of respect, and the responsibility of platforms is becoming increasingly prominent.
In the face of commercial defamation in the Internet age, how can enterprises effectively protect their rights? Do you support Yu Donglai's hard-line attitude?