Recently, a mosquito repellent liquid called “Japanese Ding Ding” in mainland China was exposed as not being a Japanese brand or an imported product from Japan. Some consumers expressed that they initially thought they were purchasing imported mosquito repellent products but later discovered it was a domestically produced item.
According to a report by The Paper on May 18th, Mr. Jin, a consumer, stated that when he bought the “Japanese Ding Ding” mosquito repellent liquid on an e-commerce platform, he believed the product was related to a Japanese brand or imported product. However, he later found out that “Japanese Ding Ding” is only a trademark brand name. The mosquito repellent liquid is manufactured by Guangzhou Weikui Cosmetics Co., Ltd., a company based in mainland China, and is not produced in Japan nor authorized by any Japanese brand.
The report mentioned that the trademark “Japanese Ding Ding” has not been successfully registered yet but is being used as a product identifier for sale on e-commerce platforms. Some platform pages show that the sales volume of related products has reached a million units.
As of the time of reporting, Guangzhou Weikui Cosmetics Co., Ltd. has not responded to media inquiries.
Many netizens expressed that they were attracted to the product initially because of the word “Japanese.” They believed that Japanese mosquito repellent products have safe ingredients, low irritability, and are suitable for use by babies, young children, and sensitive individuals. They were surprised to find out that it was simply a rebranded product.
Some netizens commented that they originally purchased the product for its “mild Japanese formula,” only to later discover that it is manufactured in mainland China.
In another report by Phoenix Net Finance on May 19th, it was mentioned that marketing tactics like using geographical names or foreign language packaging to create an “imported” perception are common. For example, products labeled as “Russian Sausage” are not actually produced in Russia but use regional trademarks, Russian-style packaging, or foreign language layouts to mislead consumers into thinking they are imported Russian sausages. Some products use labels like “From Qinghai-Tibet Lake,” “Soil from the Mountains,” “Handmade,” or “Ripened on the Tree” as trademarks or marketing tags, but these may not necessarily correspond to the actual place of origin, craftsmanship, or quality.