[2] Well-known brand sparks public outrage, false advertising becomes a typical case

Compiled from The Paper
 
During the "Double Eleven" shopping festival, L'Oréal presold a certain product in Li Jiaqi's livestream, claiming it was the lowest price of the year. However, netizens later discovered in L'Oréal's own livestream that the price of this product was nearly half cheaper than the previous presale price. L'Oréal was accused of false advertising, and related hashtags trended on Weibo.

 
 

Case review
At the end of October, several top livestreamers, including Li Jiaqi and Viya, promoted a L'Oréal ampoule mask during their livestreams. L'Oréal officially claimed it was the “biggest discount of the year,” with 50 masks priced at 429 yuan. However, just a few days later, many consumers discovered that in L'Oréal's official livestream room, they could purchase 50 of the same masks for 257 yuan, nearly half the price.

 
 

Of course, some observant consumers pointed out that the reason L'Oreal's official livestream prices were lower than those in the livestream room was that after the Double 11 presale ended, the L'Oreal brand continued to release a large number of coupons offering 200 yuan off purchases of 999 yuan or more from November 1 to 3. After consumers used these coupons, the final transaction prices were significantly discounted.
 
A previous screenshot shared by a netizen showed that, according to the edit history of the official Weibo account of L’Oréal Paris, the brand published posts on October 13 and 14 stating that “the L’Oréal ampoule mask sold in Li Jiaqi’s livestream on October 20 offers the biggest discount of the year.” However, on November 11, the phrase “biggest discount of the year” was removed from the posts.

 
 

Consumers who discovered they had overpaid for products in livestreaming rooms flocked to major complaint platforms. On the Black Cat Complaint platform, consumers filed a collective complaint: “L’Oréal Paris engaged in false advertising, issuing a large number of coupons after deposits were paid, deceiving consumers and failing to refund the price difference on equal terms.” The collective complaint has now exceeded a thousand cases.
 
 
"Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 8
Business operators shall not engage in false or misleading commercial publicity regarding the performance, function, quality, sales status, user reviews, or honors received of their goods, thereby deceiving or misleading consumers.
Business operators shall not assist other business operators in conducting false or misleading commercial publicity by organizing fictitious transactions or other means.
 
 
"Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 3
Advertising shall be truthful and lawful, and shall conform to the requirements of socialist spiritual civilization.
 
Article 4
Advertisements shall not contain false content and shall not deceive or mislead consumers.”

 
 

 
[1] The author's perspective
Currently, the companies of Li Jiaqi and Viya have both issued statements, demanding that L'Oréal provide a proper solution, suspending all cooperation with L'Oréal, and stating that if L'Oréal does not offer a reasonable resolution, they will compensate consumers accordingly. It is evident that the attitude of these two streamers deserves praise from netizens.
 
A day after the incident gained traction, let us revisit L'Oreal's official response. L'Oreal issued a late-night apology, yet it sidestepped critical issues such as false advertising and poor after-sales attitude, offering only a certain number of shopping vouchers as compensation to consumers. Double 11 should be a “shopping carnival” that delivers real savings, not a “battle of tricks” that deceives consumers. This case was singled out for criticism by the China Consumers Association, reflecting the depth of merchants' deceptive tactics. The market has rules, business demands integrity, and discounts should be genuine. Profiting through tricks harms customers' interests and one's own reputation  , and also damages the commercial ecosystem and consumption environment.