The farmer who bottles nature's water, Nongfu Spring, has now bottled nuclear contamination?
[4] Compiled from: Red Star News
[2] Nongfu Spring has been thrust into the spotlight of public opinion due to a promotional slogan.
Case review
[3] Previously, netizens discovered that Nongfu Spring's Dawn White Peach-flavored sparkling water prominently featured "Fukushima Prefecture" in both its packaging and store promotions. This move sparked widespread skepticism: was Nongfu Spring importing Dawn White Peaches from Japan's Fukushima?
[4] It is known that Dawn White Peach is a famous specialty of Japan's Fukushima Prefecture. However, since the severe nuclear leak in Fukushima in 2011, the surrounding soil and water have been heavily contaminated. Due to the impact of the nuclear accident on the quality and safety of food and agricultural products, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has explicitly banned the import of food, edible agricultural products, and feed from 12 prefectures, including Fukushima, Gunma, Tochigi, and Ibaraki.
[5] On June 27, Nongfu Spring's official Weibo account stated that this sparkling water is a flavored beverage with no ingredients imported from Japan's Fukushima Prefecture. It emphasized that the product's labeling complies with relevant regulations and contains no errors or misleading information.
[6] On the same day, the Jiande Market Supervision Administration issued a "Notice on the Investigation of the Source of Raw Materials for Nongfu Spring's Dawn White Peach-flavored Sparkling Water." The notice stated that the administration dispatched inspectors to conduct an on-site inspection of the production workshop of Nongfu Spring (Jiande) Xin'anjiang Drinking Water Co., Ltd., located on Xin'anjiang Street, Jiande City. After verification, it was confirmed that the raw materials for Nongfu Spring's Dawn White Peach-flavored sparkling water were not sourced from Japan's Fukushima Prefecture.
"Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 4
Advertisements shall not contain false or misleading content, nor deceive or mislead consumers.
Advertisers shall be responsible for the truthfulness of the advertising content.
Article 8
Advertisements that make representations about the performance, function, origin, purpose, quality, composition, price, producer, shelf life, promises, etc., of a product, or about the content, provider, form, quality, price, promises, etc., of a service, shall be accurate, clear, and explicit.
[1] The author's perspective
Obviously, this statement instead put Nongfu Spring in a dilemma. If the raw materials are indeed sourced from Fukushima, then Nongfu Spring violates the regulations of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine; if the raw materials are not from Fukushima, then Nongfu Spring is involved in false advertising misleading consumers, potentially violating the Advertising Law.
Although Nongfu Spring stated that the raw materials are unrelated to Fukushima fruits, whether from the content published on the official public account or from the outer packaging of the sparkling water, there are words like "Dawn White Peach" and "Dawn White Peach produced in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan," which can easily lead consumers to mistakenly believe that the raw material of the sparkling water is the Dawn White Peach from Fukushima. Therefore, netizens did not buy Nongfu Spring's denial that the raw materials come from Fukushima, Japan, and retorted: "Your own advertisement says Fukushima, but now you don't admit it?"
Although the relevant authorities have not yet determined that Nongfu Spring violated the Advertising Law, as a national brand, consumer reputation is particularly important. "We are just nature's porter," this advertising slogan of Nongfu Spring was once widely known. Even though product categories are becoming more diverse and promotional methods more varied, legal marketing is always a bottom line that a company must uphold.
