What's the end of vulgar adverts? Look at the punishment

Some business operators, in pursuit of short-term benefits, continually challenge the boundaries of law and morality by relying on vulgar content to create buzz and attract attention.

A slew of similar cases have been uncovered by Shanghai's market watchdog: Businesses triggered attention by using advertisements with sexual implications to trend on social media, then they either removed the products or issued apologies for rectification, hoping to reap the benefits of "going viral" at a low cost.

One recent case was a Shanghai-based beauty brand which was fined 25,000 yuan (US$3,438) by the city's market regulators for an advert deemed to have sexual implications.

The names of some lipsticks by beauty brand Flortte were found to have certain sexual implications.

The company displayed a close-up photo of another lip gloss product on the sales page, and due to the angle of the photograph, the final image was said to have caused discomfort among consumers.

"I think such act is disgusting and customers should say 'no' to such product," Ye Fengling, a female customer, said. "If all consumers boycotted such business, it would deliver a real lesson."

In another case exposed in May, Blueglass, a yogurt brand previously criticized for its laxative-like effects, came under fire again over suggestive marketing and potentially unsafe ingredients in a new product.

The new yogurt, which claimed to contain "male enhancement" herbs such as maca, cistanche deserticola, ginseng, and deer penis, has been dubbed "viagra yogurt" by netizens.

The product's advertising features an "18+" symbol and slogans like "Get your 'super boy' back in one sip!" and "No sales to minors, pranksters, or over-60s."

In a recent follow-up, the Huangpu District market watchdog imposed an administrative penalty of 450,000 yuan on the company.

The regulatory authorities said the company associated the effects of "Boyfriend Power Yogurt" with male sexual function and, through the"18+" symbol and verbal implications, led the public to associate the effects of yogurt with male sexual function, implying that "Boyfriend Power Yogurt" has aphrodisiac effects, attracting public attention through vulgar means.

Similarly, a café was fined 30,000 yuan late last year for products bearing the signage "Doi Coffee" (Make Love Coffee) and "doggy style latte" and "Doi Americanos," market regulators in the district found.

In January, Hobbymax in Jing'an Joy City was found specifically enlarging the buttocks of the female character in a human-shaped standee advertisement and prominently displaying it. It received a fine of 220,000 yuan.

One of the most typical cases should probably go to Coconut Palm, a coconut milk producer which used terms such as "rub breast with coconut" and "few South Pacific beauties have 'airfields (flat-chests)'" in ads and was fined 400,000 yuan by market regulators in Hainan Province in May.

Why is it that suggestive marketing by companies is repeatedly banned yet still rampant?

Currently, some advertising and marketing personnel are relatively young, and some do not understand the relevant laws and regulations concerning advertising, said Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Law School of China University of Political Science and Law.

"Moreover, the offenders believe that in the 'traffic' economy, whether good or bad, they can attract attention. Such advertisements are likely to cause controversy and attention, and coupled with the low cost of illegal activities, these fines can be included in the marketing expenses," he said.

Lawyer Zhao Hu believes the reason companies use vulgar marketing is still driven by profits.

"Companies would think that vulgar content is more easily spread, and in order not to blatantly violate the advertising law and spread obscene, pornographic content, many companies would choose to play on the edge, opting for less risky vulgar marketing," Zhao said.

Although there are existing laws and regulations to regulate advertising behavior, Zhao said that these laws and regulations are difficult to enforce.

In addition to the difficulties in prior review in the advertising industry, how to define so-called vulgarity and obscenity is also a challenge, according to Zhao.

"The review of advertisements, especially the review by artificial intelligence, is still unclear about what can be published and what cannot be published," Zhao said.

"Where is the bottom line of public interest that algorithms, big data, and social media advertisements cannot violate? Our laws and regulations should respond, and it seems that the discussion is still ongoing at present."