Eating a sour fish dish can also have a “height-boosting” effect? Recently, the sour fish dishware of the Chinese chain brand “Fish Together With You” was exposed to have a hidden “height-boosting” design. Netizens believe this is a form of suicidal marketing.
According to a report by Litchi News, at a “Fish Together With You” store in Nanjing, a large white basin containing a double serving of sour fish, while looking tall and big, is actually very shallow, with just a shallow depth that can be reached with chopsticks. Actual tests showed that the total height of the dish was about 7.5 centimeters, but the actual internal depth was only 4 centimeters, meaning the dish was “height-boosted” by 3.5 centimeters, close to half of the total height.
An elderly lady who dined at the store bluntly said, “The dish is very shallow, not much inside.”
In addition, on multiple review platforms, many consumers complained that the portion of the brand’s sour fish dish did not match the capacity of the dish.
Store staff responded that all tableware in the store, including these large dishes, are uniformly distributed by the headquarters.
The brand’s business development manager explained that using this “height-boosting” dish was a marketing strategy for the company. On the one hand, the large dish looks attractive and appealing; on the other hand, the amount of food cannot be excessive to create a sense of “hunger” because if you eat too much delicious food, you might not want to eat it again next time.
He also admitted, “For investors, investment is about making money.” He revealed that the brand has over 2700 storefronts, with a gross profit margin of 60%-63%.
After the incident was exposed, netizens expressed, “I won’t go to such stores after going once, it’s just suicidal marketing.” “Definitely a deceitful merchant!” “Nowadays, many products have deceptive packaging, like cream bottles and beverage gift boxes, slowly eroding a company’s integrity and credibility.” “Fictional visual representation misleads consumers to choose incorrectly, disguising small portion sizes as larger!” “Deception is now veiled under a fancy marketing strategy.” “This store’s sales practices should be thoroughly investigated.”