September 4, 2008
The Hong-Kong-listed food & beverage manufacturer Master Kong recently got wrapped up in a scandal over a misleading advertisement.
The company boasted in a TV commercial that its mineral water, sold here in Beijing for 1.5 yuan a bottle, was made of “high-quality water source” (优质水源). It turned out that the so-called “high-quality water source” is no more than plain tap water that you have to boil before you can drink it safely.
Today’s Chinese Business View reported that on September 2, Master Kong apologized to the public, saying that the company “didn’t make it clear enough and has caused misunderstanding among its customers.”
The affair started in July with a post on Tianya, a popular forum. In the post, the author gave a description of the factory with details that disgusted many readers. The author concluded that Master Kong’s factory in Hangzhou must use the tap water because it is nowhere near any natural water source, except the polluted Qiantan River.
The post soon drew a lot of responses, most of which expressed anger at Master Kong for fooling them into believing that the water was actually from some natural source, or at least something better than tap water. Others discussed which bottled water brand is the best in the market. One post suggested that Nongfu Spring was the the best:
I am a university student studying chemistry. According to the experiments I did with my professor, Nongfu Spring is the best.
The post was republished by many other forums, and probably led Master Kong to cease using the term “high-quality water source” in its commercial on August 7. The company has also redesigned the packaging of its products.
There had been suspicion that Master Kong’s competitor Nongfu Spring was behind it all. An article in Southern Daily supported this view. According to the article, bottled water retailers in Shenzhen have received pamphlets from Nongfu Spring’s sales team detailing the incident. And during the past two months, sales of Master Kong have declined. But Nongfu Spring denied such charges.
- Tianya (Chinese):Master Kong, where is your “high-quality water source”?
- Southern Daily via Xinhua (Chinese): Nongfu Spring declined that it plotted Master Kong’s “Water Gate”
- Information Times via Sina (Chinese): Master Kong’s apology is not sincere