On the afternoon of November 10th, Hong Kong’s renowned actress Carina Lau took to her personal Weibo account to call out Taobao and Tmall official accounts on behalf of her husband, Tony Leung, questioning the platforms, “Is such serious infringement and deceiving of consumers part of your marketing strategy?” This has sparked attention across social media.
In the screenshots shared by Carina Lau, a store named “ENCARE海外旗艦店” was identified with the phrase “Tmall International,” and among the products being sold was one named “New Zealand ENCORE Immune Balls of Bovine Immunoglobulin,” with a promotional image featuring Tony Leung’s half-body photo.
In the afternoon of the 10th, the customer service staff of the store “ENCARE海外旗艦店” responded to Red Star News, stating that they had already reported the issue to the brand, and mentioned that their brand had sponsored a variety show called “Great Movies Are Worth Watching,” granting them the right to use the image of a star (referring to the above-mentioned celebrity) as per the current discussion with the production team. Public information indicates that the affiliated company of “Great Movies Are Worth Watching” is Shanghai Zongyi Cultural Media Co., Ltd.
Following Carina Lau’s Weibo post approximately 40 minutes later, “ENCARE海外旗艦店” had already deleted the promotional images of Tony Leung and others. Subsequently, the Red Star Capital Bureau reached out to Taobao and Tmall for verification, but as of the time of reporting, no response has been received.
According to Cover News, the store has switched to a “closed” status, just two hours after Carina Lau’s post. Information from Enterprise Check shows that “ENCARE” had once filed for trademark registration, with the pharmaceutical classification applied by Anfa International Holdings Group currently remaining invalid after initial rejection.
Modern Express interviewed Attorney Lu Jinyan from Jiangsu Zhongshan Mingjing Law Firm. Lu stated, “Under the ‘Civil Code,’ the right to one’s portrait as a natural person is protected by law. Without the person’s consent, it is prohibited to produce, use, or publicize the portrait of the right holder. Mr. Tony Leung holds exclusive rights to his image, therefore, using his image for product promotion without his consent by the brand and Taobao/Tmall constitutes a direct infringement of his portrait rights.”
Lu Jinyan emphasized that the right to one’s portrait and copyright are two distinct and separate rights. Therefore, even if the ENCORE brand sponsored the show “Great Movies Are Worth Watching” or acquired photo copyrights from film and television companies or photographers, it does not automatically grant them commercial usage rights for the star’s image.
Infringement of portrait rights often accompanies unfair competition practices, which simultaneously infringe upon market competition order and the legal interests of other operators. Unauthorized use of Tony Leung’s image could lead the public to mistakenly believe in a specific collaboration or endorsement relationship with the brand. This constitutes a typical case of “misleading commercial promotion,” deceiving and misleading consumers, thereby creating false advertising.
As a result, this incident quickly surged to the top of Weibo’s hot search topics.
Netizens commented, “Carina Lau handled this beautifully! The store used Tony Leung’s photo to deceive middle-aged and elderly people into buying health products, and when caught, they still stubbornly claimed being sponsors of a show? Is platform moderation merely for show?” “This is indeed not an exaggeration. Many online sellers directly Photoshop celebrity images or videos, leading to some consumers falling for it.”
“Taobao has long tolerated merchants, as it forms the foundation of their business in terms of generating traffic. A large number of sellers translate into massive advertising revenue, and if the platform were to enforce strict controls, it might scare off their ‘golden cash cows.’ When Carina Lau directly questioned whether Taobao uses infringement as a marketing strategy, she essentially exposed a fundamental issue: certain degree of chaos is necessary for the platform. Overly regulated environments could hinder the platform’s ‘vitality.’”
Tmall, being China’s largest retail shopping website, separated from Taobao and is operated by Zhejiang Tmall Network Co., Ltd.