Trending in Beijing: Durex Hit With Fines, Coffee Shop Owners Whine

The fun, the strange, and the what-on-earth-is-this? Trending in Beijing is a wrap-up of top stories in Beijing as told by the trending hashtags, local press, and general power of the internet.

Durex endures hefty fines for its advertising

Leave it to the world’s biggest condom brand to earn itself a spot on the naughty list. Last week, it was revealed that Durex had been fined a total of RMB 810,000 in a case regarding its online advertisements – it would take a whole lot of rubber to hold all that cash.

So, what was so nasty about these ads, and how can I get my hands on one of them? Well, it turns out, much to the chagrin of thirsty netizens, that the offenses hardly involved any lewd images at all. (Sorry, but you’ll have to get your kicks from every other part of the internet.)

According to Jiemian News, the fines mainly stem from two cases. In one, Durex was selling a sex toy on Taobao and went a little wild with the description, landing itself outside the bounds of the law. The other case involved a co-campaign with milk tea brand Hi Tea in late 2019, revolving around the one thing that condoms and milk tea have in common: keeping you up at night, using the hashtag ‘Up all night’ #不睡眠#

To be honest, these ads were extremely tame – perhaps the crudest part about the whole ordeal was when Hi Tea responded to a post from Durex, writing, “Hi Durex, yes I remember our date. We said from that day forth that my cheese would always be on your lips.” The cheese, of course, refers to the cheese milk tea served at Hi Tea.

In addition to (apparently) violating advertising law, the exchange roundly disgusted netizens, one of whom responded, “Are you serious with this? I really do not want milk tea right now.”

For what it’s worth, Durex has gotten some free publicity out of the ordeal. We’ll let them decide for themselves whether it was worth the 800-grand.

Café berates customer for just ordering a water

In what can only be described as a surefire way to lose customers, the management of an unspecified coffee shop in Chaoyang district was caught on camera in a dispute with a pair of customers. One man had ordered a coffee for RMB 35, while the man with him requested nothing more than a glass of water. That was not good enough for the management, who demanded that both men must order something from the menu or get out.

One way or another, the police got involved and, according to the video which circulated on Weibo under the hashtag ‘Beijing coffee shop forces customer to make purchase’ #北京一咖啡厅强制客人消费#, told the management that they were being unreasonable.

A heated discussion ensued among netizens, with a number of commenters taking the side of the shop. “Are all of these comments from relatives of the shop owners?” wrote one user. “This kind of behavior clearly stems from the frustration of slow business."

More than 1,000 people in Beijing are over 100 years old

There are now 1,048 centenarians in the capital, according to a Weibo post by Beijing Evening News, marking the first time that the city’s 100+ population has exceeded 1,000.

According to the post, Beijing’s elderly population has also grown as a whole, with the 60+ population rising by over 300,000 in the past year, landing just over 3.7 million, or 17 percent of the city’s population.

Though most commenters were quick to wish the city’s elderly good health, others wondered what the aging population means for their own future. “So the average is 82? Seems like we won’t be able to retire until age 70,” wrote one user, punching up the comment with a facepalm emoji.

READ: Trending in Beijing: Sympathy for the Handsome, Shame for Rule Breaker

Images: Health Magazine, weibo