Self-media hype Wahaha and Nongfu Spring ＂feud＂, Wahaha： no response

Recently, Zong Qinghou, the founder of Wahaha Group, passed away due to illness, triggering memories from all walks of life. Unexpectedly, some self-media articles said that Nongfu Spring, which is located in Hangzhou with Wahaha, had a "long-standing grudge" with it, and that "Nongfu Spring founder Zhong Shanyuan’s first entrepreneurial income came from Wahaha" and "was fired for flushing goods". On the evening of March 3, Nongfu Spring executives responded intensively, saying that the rumors were not true.

On the 4th, Wahaha Group’s public relations department responded to the upstream news (report mailbox baoliaosy@163.com) reporter that it had paid attention to the relevant situation and did not respond to it. "We have not participated in relevant online comments." Legal experts said that Nongfu Spring has the right to protect its goodwill from false remarks and can pursue the legal responsibility of relevant self-media according to law.

Netizen recounts "The Farmer and the Snake". Network Map

On social platforms, upstream journalists found a lot of such self-media articles. There were short video bloggers who followed the trend and posted videos of "dumping Nongfu Spring products". The Nongfu Spring live stream was once attacked by some netizens, which made the live streaming host overwhelmed for a while.

Zhong Xuanyuan responded to the rumors. According to Nongfu Spring official Weibo

In response to a large number of rumors about Zhong Shanyuan and Nongfu Spring and Wahaha that have appeared on the Internet recently, Nongfu Spring executives responded intensively on the evening of the 3rd. The official Weibo of Nongfu Spring released the article "Zhong Shanyuan: I and Zong Lao Two or Three Things", describing the source of its "first pot of gold", the communication with Zong Qinghou on the development of canned porridge products, the past of selling Wahaha Children’s Nutrition Oral Liquid in Guangxi and Hainan, and the handshake after the dispute between natural water and purified water.

Mr. Zhong said the cloth business was the "first pot of gold" from his start-up, not the online rumour that "the first start-up income came from Wahaha"; he never received a salary in Wahaha, let alone was fired for flushing goods; Nongfu Spring and Wahaha had lawsuits over the dispute between natural water and purified water, but eventually shook hands and made peace. "Zong Lao has always been an entrepreneur I respect," said Mr. Zhong. "He and I are also teachers and friends, and of course, they are also competitors."

Zhong Yuanyi expressed the hope that while expressing his remembrance for Zong Lao, the majority of netizens would not be tempered by individual self-media or big Vs.

Nongfu Spring Vice President Zhou Li responded to the rumors. Network diagram

Almost at the same time, Zhou Li, the vice president of Nongfu Spring, also issued a post in Moments in response to the "support Wahaha stepping on Nongfu Spring storm". He said that Mr. Zong Qinghou was in his seventh year today, and maybe the old man did not expect that his death would be used by some people to attack another company in the same city and become a hot topic of public opinion. Although the two companies were in the same city in the early years of competition, and even went to court, they still competed openly under the legal framework. During the debate, the same media would be invited to hold a press conference, each talking about their own opinions. "Zhejiang businesspeople don’t have the scene of eating and drinking together, but in fact, they can watch and help each other when they are in trouble."

On the evening of the 3rd, related topics rushed to the hot search lists of major platforms, and "Vice President of Nongfu Spring responded to supporting Wahaha to step on Nongfu Spring" was at the top of Weibo’s trending topic list.

Some netizens dumped Nongfu Spring. Network map

On the 4th, the staff of the public relations department of Wahaha Group told upstream reporters that they had noticed the relevant situation, "We have not [responded] to this, because we have not participated in the comments on the Internet."

According to the data, in 2000 Wahaha formed an alliance with six large pure water companies, including Shanghai Zhengguanghe and Robust, to jointly accuse Nongfu Spring. Zong Qinghou led Wahaha to file a lawsuit in the Shangcheng District Court of Hangzhou, accusing Yangshengtang Drinking Water Company (the parent company of Nongfu Spring) of unfair competition.

On June 8, 2000, Wahaha held a press conference at the West Lake State Guesthouse during the day, while Nongfu Spring held a press conference at the same location at night, forming a subtle confrontation.

In 2009, Nongfu Spring was caught in the "arsenic gate" crisis due to a report from the Haikou Bureau of Industry and Commerce, which said that the total arsenic content in its drinks exceeded the standard, which dealt a heavy blow to Nongfu Spring. At a critical moment, Zong Qinghou stood in solidarity with Zhong Xianyuan and publicly expressed doubts about Nongfu Spring’s test results.

Zong Qinghou’s move attracted widespread attention at the time. It is widely believed that the two are both Zhejiang people and share the same Zhejiang business spirit – diligence, innovation, unity and integrity, which has enabled them to understand and support each other on the business stage.

Fu Jian, director of Henan Zejin Law Firm, believes that self-media hype, especially hype involving negative information or false statements, may damage the reputation of enterprises and bring a series of negative effects, such as misleading consumers and the public, resulting in a decline in trust in enterprises; secondly, consumers may be affected by negative information and choose to avoid purchasing the company’s products or services, and the company’s sales and market performance will be affected. Therefore, enterprises need to respond in a timely and effective manner to maintain their brand perception and market position.

Fu Jian believes that under the legal framework, companies have the right to protect their goodwill from false remarks. If the information published by self-media is suspected of defaming or damaging the company’s reputation, the company can pursue its legal responsibility according to law, such as filing a complaint; the company can first file a complaint with the relevant platform to request deletion or correction of the false information. If the complaint is invalid, the company can file a lawsuit through legal channels to claim compensation for the loss and restore the reputation.

Mr. Fu noted that Zhou Li, Nongfu Spring’s vice president, had made it clear in Moments that they were unequivocal about this inappropriate self-media hype, and stressed that the competition between the two companies was conducted within a legal framework, "which shows that Nongfu Spring has noticed these inappropriate remarks and may be ready to take action to safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests."

On the 4th, upstream journalists contacted the public relations department of Nongfu Spring and Nongfu Spring to inquire about the follow-up, but they had not received a response as of press time.

Original title: "Self-media hype Wahaha and Nongfu Spring" feud ", Wahaha: no response"

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