Chinese Brewery Estimated To Lose S$21mil 'Cos They Can’t Sell Their Beer With Zhang Zhehan’s Face On The Cans
The backlash against the actor after his scandal has been brew-tal.
Word of Honor actor Zhang Zhehan, 30, went from being one of China’s hottest stars to persona non grata overnight when old photos of him visiting controversial war shrines in Japan were dug up and circulated online.
This led to the termination of all his endorsement contracts — resulting in an estimated 50mil yuan (S$10.5mil) financial loss — and upcoming projects. Even his past shows, music, and social media platforms have been taken down or removed without any mention of his name.
Zhehan’s scandal has certainly put the companies he used to work with in a tight spot.
Recently, Weibo users shared pictures of a warehouse packed to the ceiling with cartons of Yanjing Beer, which used to have Zhehan as their celeb ambassador.
The problem is, all those beer cans have his face printed on them, and now that pretty much every brand in the country clearly won’t touch him with a ten-foot pole, it’s highly unlikely that those products will ever be found on shelves and may just be discarded.
And because of that, it has been estimated that Yanjing Beer may lose at least 100mil yuan (S$21mil).
Wait… so just how many cans of that stuff did they make!?
Netizens certainly had a lot to say about the matter.
Many applauded Yanjing Beer for their decision (despite, you know, their massive losses and the insane wastage of perfectly good booze), while others took pity on them.
Comments include: “Who would’ve thought you could still meet a demon after choosing someone from China as your spokesperson”, “They are really too unlucky”, “The beer has done nothing wrong”, “What a pity, find a way to remove his picture”, “Don’t waste it”, and “Just squash the can after you’ve finished drinking it”.
Photos: 娱乐圈鱼仔/Weibo, Word of Honor/Weibo
