Chain restaurant Xibei in mainland China was previously embroiled in a “pre-packaged food controversy,” which has not completely subsided yet. Recently, it published an article stating that a child named Maomao has been a fan of Xibei since the age of two. Maomao’s mother, after hearing the recent news, decided not to take him to eat at Xibei anymore. However, Maomao cried and threw a tantrum, insisting on going. After the article was released, a large number of netizens criticized Xibei for using children to manipulate emotions, prompting Xibei to delete the post.
On September 23, Xibei’s official WeChat account published an article titled “7-year-old Maomao: I thought I would never eat at Xibei again,” recounting how Maomao has been eating at Xibei since the age of 2. His mother, influenced by recent news, initially decided not to take him, but Maomao insisted on going and couldn’t be swayed even by buying toys. The article mentioned that the child had been eating at Xibei for 5 years without any food safety issues, stating, “This trust should not be denied because of public opinion.” In the end, the mother still took the child to Xibei.
The article also mentioned customers who loaded 1000 RMB onto their Xibei prepaid cards but did not spend it, saying they were merely showing support for Xibei. Some customers even expressed sentiments such as “Together in life and death with Xibei.”
The article immediately sparked skepticism among many netizens: “What did they eat to become so addicted?”; “Are they treating netizens as fools?”; “Using children for emotional propaganda”; “The public relations department really messed up big time”; “Haha, should really investigate a food that can get a child addicted.”
On the 25th, the article was deleted. In response, Xibei customer service told Jumuxin News that the article was subject to online backlash and was deleted out of consideration for the feelings of internal partners and customers.
Public information shows that Xibei Catering (XIBEI), also known as Xibei Catering Group, was founded by Jia Guolong in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, specializing in local Chinese cuisine.
According to previous reports, Luo Yonghao posted on Weibo criticizing himself and colleagues for dining at Xibei and discovering that almost all dishes were pre-packaged and expensive, causing this chain restaurant brand to be embroiled in a “pre-packaged food” controversy.