Yeshu Livestreaming Style Sparks Controversy, Market Supervision Bureau Responds!

Yeshu's Livestream Draws Fire

Hainan Yeshu Group, a veteran of China's beverage-marketing scene, recently began selling through livestreams on its official Douyin account — and the tone of those broadcasts has provoked sharp criticism. Staff at the market supervision administration say they have received multiple reports and are monitoring the situation while they work out how to respond.

On the evening of October 8, Yeshu Group went live at 8 p.m. as scheduled, serving up what viewers called "the familiar formula." The set was decorated in pale blue, and four female hosts promoted products while performing dance routines. Dressed in tight tops and black shorts, they wore masks printed with Yeshu's classic packaging and held cartons of Yeshu coconut milk as they danced to drive sales.

Many viewers had clearly been waiting for the stream to begin. The moment it started, more than 50,000 people flooded in. Yet just minutes later the broadcast was cut off by Douyin. It resumed ten minutes later, only to be shut down again after five more minutes on air. According to reports, the same thing happened several times during the October 5 broadcast, after which the streams were suspended for two days.

Platform data shows that Yeshu Group has now run six livestreams, gaining 234,000 followers, with peak concurrent viewership above 50,000 and total cumulative viewership of 560,000. Sales per session, however, stayed between 2,500 and 5,000 yuan.

Company Response and Background

On October 8, asked about the accusations of borderline marketing, a person in charge at Yeshu Group said the company went into livestreaming because its products needed it, but that they were unclear about how netizens had judged the broadcasts and had no immediate knowledge of the details.

Public records show that Hainan Yeshu Coconut Milk Beverage Co., Ltd. was established in February 1998, with Zhang Wu as its legal representative and registered capital of approximately 52.86 million RMB. Its business scope covers the production, sale, and wholesale of beverages. Shareholder information from Tianyancha shows the company is jointly held by Hainan Yeye Industrial Co., Ltd. and Yeshu Group Co., Ltd.

A History of Violations

On the morning of October 9, the group trended on Weibo under the topic #YeshuWasFinedTwiceForViolatingSocialGoodCustoms#. Risk records from Tianyancha do show that the company was fined 200,000 yuan and 400,000 yuan on two separate occasions for "disrupting social public order or violating social good customs."

Both fines date to 2019, when Yeshu Coconut Milk printed the phrase "large-breasted women" on new packaging, with copy that marketed the drink outright as a "breast-enhancement miracle." For disrupting social public order and violating social good customs, Yeshu Group was fined 200,000 yuan by the local market supervision administration. Then, in early 2021, the Hainan Provincial Market Supervision Administration summoned the group for talks over a recruitment advertisement promising "a car, a house, and a high salary upon enrollment, plus beautiful women and handsome men chasing after you." On April 30 of that year, the Hainan Market Supervision Administration fined Hainan Yeshu Coconut Milk Beverage Co., Ltd. a total of 400,000 yuan, 380,000 yuan of which related to advertisements that violated social good customs.

Many people consider Yeshu's advertising vulgar and heavy with patronizing "dad" energy, and some suspect it of false claims. Every campaign seems designed to tie the product's effects to breast enhancement. Yeshu has admitted that the strategy was meant to play up the breast-enhancement effects of its coconut milk, even though there is no scientific basis for the claim.

As a result, Yeshu has not only been criticized and fined by the Administration for Industry and Commerce; it has also been held up by the national office against pornography and illegal publications as a negative example, and its trademark applications for "from childhood" and "drinking to adulthood" were rejected.

A Divided Public

The episode has split netizens into two camps. One side argues that Yeshu Group keeps playing legal "borderline ball" with its marketing. The other believes the company is simply continuing the style it has always had, because Yeshu coconut milk genuinely tastes good. Some have even joked that "Yeshu's boss has always believed good sales come from good advertising." Where do you stand?

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Marketing stunts aside, a good cup of coffee should stand on flavor alone — which is exactly why FrontStreet Coffee keeps a beginner-friendly single-origin lineup on its menu. If you are just starting out, FrontStreet Sun-dried Huakui and FrontStreet Washed Gedingding Cooperative are the classic Ethiopian entry points: Gedingding, a washed Yirgacheffe, offers jasmine, lemon-like acidity, and berry notes, while Huakui, a traditional natural Sidamo, brings berry, floral, jackfruit, melon, and honey.

For something softer and sweeter, FrontStreet Brazil from the well-known Cerrado region drinks like cream, peanut, and cocoa at a very accessible price, while FrontStreet Queen Estate, grown at a higher altitude from the rare Yellow Bourbon, layers butter, sunflower seed, macadamia, and almond over a sugarcane-like sweetness — equally good brewed black or paired with milk.

Prefer a fuller, low-acid cup? FrontStreet Indonesia Mandheling is wet-hulled, which gives it a thicker, smoother body than FrontStreet Blue Mountain, with herbal and spice notes that suit anyone who dislikes acidity. Step up to FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling and you get three rounds of hand-sorting plus one machine sort, a minimal defect rate, and a cleaner, silkier cup with clearer woody and caramel tones.