Chapter 265: Monkeys Watching a Show
Li Min looked shocked. "It started an hour or so ago. We were waiting for it to get picked up."
"What's it looking like right now?" Xiong Fen stood up immediately.
"Right now, it's just a lot of comments bashing Venus and banning stores. But I also saw some short clips from influential handles that troubled me." And it did seem the matter worried Li Min. She looked at Qian Meng with a little fear.
"What is it?" she asked. She could only imagine how much worse it was getting. At least there was no mob surrounding their building. That would be a different level of anarchy that she would have to handle and she didn't think she was up for it.
"We have some beauty vloggers turning the scandal into a publicity stunt and a trend," Li Min started. She tapped on her phone and showed Qian Meng a video.
"What is she doing?" Qian Meng asked, horrified. It was a matte compact her company had produced the year before and it had sold really well. The reviews were excellent as well.
But this vlogger was scraping away at the compact and breaking it apart to reveal the package underneath. Qian Meng almost felt her eyes tear up.
"How dare—" she was about to shout when Li Min rushed forward.
"Boss, it's picking up right now. It's a couple of people who are doing this, but too many people are entertained by it. Destroying makeup and accessories is a global social media trend at the moment."
Xiong Fen too tried her best to calm Qian Meng down. "I know it's disturbing to see something you worked so hard on being destroyed for the entertainment of others, but there is a controversial talk about this. It is disrespectful, but it is the customer's decision on what they want to do with their products. If they want to throw it away, use it every day, or destroy them… it is their choice."
Qian Meng knew all of this. "They bought it with their own money… do they think money comes so easily or are they easily amused like monkeys?" she asked, looking at the two other people in the room with confusion.
"We can't comment on this," Xiong Fen said firmly. When it came to her babies, Qian Meng was a mama bear. She would defend the product if she knew the other person was lying. This was why Xiong Fen had to make that statement. "Boss, you cannot… under any circumstance post a status about this."
"I know. But it is hard to watch," Qian Meng whispered. Her head fell to her palm and she wondered if she would be able to handle this matter when she was emotional. Maybe she should. Maybe she wouldn't. "Okay, let's get to work quickly. We need all the information in a few hours and the draft of the statement, too. Understood?" she ordered.
"Yes, Boss. Working on it." Xiong Fen was out of the door in a flash.
"Any other news?" Qian Meng asked, resigned.
"Yes, the status about our representative reaching out to Shi Yuhan is picking up pace and the video is being shared more often. The comments are worth looking at, Boss."
Qian Meng looked up from her hands. "Understood. You go out. I need some quiet to look over the comments. Call a meeting at five-thirty and we will process everything that has happened and toss around ideas to make the situation better."
Li Min nodded and went outside. Qian Meng was just starting up her browser when the mail about the meeting came in. Li Min was as efficient as always.
[You did the right thing by posting these online. Make sure it reaches as many people as it can. Sharing.]
[You should tag the company also. This is ridiculous. You should post this until the CEO finds out about what is happening.]
[@lastcomment, do you think the CEO doesn't know yet? They simply put out a shoddy 'we will look into this' and went back to threatening the artist. Shameless.]
[You did the right thing! Not only the employee who disrespected you, the management, the security staff, and even the onlookers who didn't come for help should be reprimanded. Also, quite disturbing to see that the onlookers didn't have the decency to speak up.]
[20,000 shares and still counting. It proves that humanity still has some kind of existence among us. Thanks for everyone's overwhelming support. To clear dirty, you have to deal with it yourself. When the situation demands it, please don't be a spectator and have fun. Speak up against what is wrong.]
[Venus should be boycotted for such behavior towards their customers. The employees should be taught a lesson for their behaver. They are also common people like us! And I am surprised to see such reaction from the onlookers at the scene and the security who just saw her struggle and enjoyed it.]
After reading this, Qian Meng understood that a load of customers not feeling in place was falling on her. She had expected it.
And then she turned to the other comments and videos of people destroying Venus products. It really was picking up as a trend.
And then something popped up. The websites on which Venus sold products for more reachability stopped letting people review arbitrarily.
[Haha. Venus must be trying to control the damage. Just tried to leave a review on their product and saw this message.]
A screenshot was added.
[This brand is receiving a lot of media attention due to recent events. We are monitoring all reviews closely, and some may be removed.]
Qian Meng felt like banging her head on the wall.
She called up Li Min immediately. "Ask the companies to not monitor reviews right now!" she exclaimed the minute the phone was picked up. She explained the situation and Li Min understood immediately.
"Sorry, Boss. I am getting the information through immediately."
They hung up and Qian Meng watched in horror as what she expected really did happen.