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Well, it seems a new thread is needed to gather all the things Taiwanese firms do as they relate to politics, whether on purpose or not.
President Tsai’s comment somewhat funny on Yifang’s big blunder:
In response to media queries for comment, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said: “‘Fruit tea’ is best when it is natural. If you add politics, it does not taste good.”
I shall never drink at Yifang again. To be fair I never drank there anyway so my boycott may not hit them where it hurts.
I almost wish I’d been a customer so I could boycott them, but I’d never put any of that crap in my body to begin with.
well, if google maps is accurate, Yifang seems to have under 20 branches in Taiwan. (Unless someone knows their details better.) Can’t believe they have one in Penghu, much less one in HK with such few branches on Taiwan’s main island
I too have never drank of their bitter tea.
Yifang totally sucks anyway. There are much better tea joints out there.
i wish taiwanese people would get behind boycotts. these companys don’t seem to have any fear of a home backlash, compared to china where backlashes are par for the course.
i also never buy from this place so i have nothing to boycott. it seems like a rather small venture in taiwan but i’ve seen their shops all over asia.
Life forces everyone to choose sides from time to time.
As I said before, it is funny that their love for thsi Island is questioned when their tea drinks all have names of Taiwan places, like Puli special green tea with lemon, Pintung jamaica drink, kaohsiung pineapple punch, etc.
The only winner in this controversy, as always, is China. They play Taiwanese like a fiddle. They kick a franchise positively associated with Taiwan and pull their weight around, plus people here reject one of their own and enterprises out of fear choose the side with the most consumers. Win-win for them, lose-lose for us.
it’s all nice and hunky-dory that they name drinks after places in Taiwan, but still stupid to allow
its Hong Kong representative agent on Monday [condemn] protesters in the territory and [express] support for China’s “one country, two systems” formula.
taiwanese would not lose out by rejecting yi fang CHINA fruit tea. theres a million other drinks shops to choose from…
any candy our kids get from school etc., I tell them to throw it away if “Made in China” (not that Taiwan’s food safety is anything to write home about). Taiwan can actually survive with plenty of food/drinks from China not being consumed here.
Yep. Kaohsiung has lots of tea shops that haven’t branched out bigly, and many of them offer/add brown sugar to pearl milk tea (with natural milk as small added cost), which makes it taste better
Eh Yifang is promoting Taiwanese tea, it si a Taiwanese company with many branches abroad, including China, US, UK, etc:
We’ve put the early-Taiwan epitome, historic memories and warm hospitality in this one cup of drink, using seasonal fruits, local ingredients and zero concentrated juice.
Second, it is a franchise, with many divisions, and as such, seems each branch can make independent statements.
Before the statements were issued, an Yifang branch on Taichung’s Dadun Road said on its Facebook fan page that it “did not endorse the post made by the Hong Kong agent,” and had communicated its grievances to the company’s main office.
“We absolutely will not change our stance on our love for this nation and this land called ‘Taiwan,’” it said.
Everyone deserves freedom and democracy, and those who “bravely protest unreasonable treatment by an authoritarian government” should be supported, it added.
There is backlash and there is some understanding:
Commenters expressed support for Yifang, asking people to not “blindly” boycott the company and urging it to “hang in there.”
Another user called on others to lodge their complaints about the Hong Kong agent’s post “in the name of the company” on Yifang founder Ko Tzu-kai’s (柯梓凱) Facebook page.
I personally believe that we should stress that this is again a case of China bullying.
Think of the Taiwanese working in China, given teh option to get a Chinese ID or not work at all. If they choose to come back, will Taiwan people support their decision or mock them for leaving the pot of gold behind?
Is there evidence of Taiwanese mocking other Taiwanese who come back from China after working? (I don’t know, am asking honestly.)
Perhaps the mysterious wumao are so advanced now, that they’ve infiltrated Taiwanese firms’ workforce overseas and purposely sabotaging their positive brand recognition through various dumb marketing gimics or statements on social networks. That seems easier to do, if I were a member on the party planning committee (heh heh heh)
Not an Yi Fang fan but it just seems like an idiot from one of their branches posted his opinion online acting as if he represented the company’s mission.
yes i was making fun of the name yi fang taiwan fruit tea. they use taiwan to promote themselves but they throw taiwan under the bus at the first opportunity. so their official new name is yi fang china fruit tea. somehow it doesn’t sound as appealing.
Takes a very big and heavy pair to stand for Taiwan these days.
Doing so has consequences in taiwan, so it is expected to be worse in China.
well sure, its calculated. they know full well that taiwanese won’t boycott as they have been trained to do in china so they can afford to take a giant dump all over taiwan. but imo taiwanese are the ones who can afford to boycott them, there are millions of drinks shops theres no reason to shop at yi fang china fruit tea.
Am I mistaken or wasn’t this statement released by their HQ?
Today, some internet users have filmed and disseminated pictures of an Yi Fang shop, which wrote a description [together with the people of Hong Kong] and posted outside. Here, we would like to make a statement to the public that we firmly support one country, two systems and look forward to Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability. We strongly condemn and resolutely oppose violent strikes. The recent demonstrations in Hong Kong have seriously affected the operation of Hong Kong stores, and they are deeply saddened.
Up to the time of submission, it has been confirmed that the store is not a direct operation, but a franchise shop. And its behavior is also the individual advocacy of the shop, which has nothing to do with the company’s position. Effective immediately, the offending shop has taken the action of closing its doors. If there is any violation of the law and contempt for the state, it will be severely punished and we reserve the right to further investigate the legal liabilities.
How can they say they are apolitical after that?