{"id":299,"date":"2023-03-22T11:46:58","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T03:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/?p=299"},"modified":"2023-04-06T11:47:34","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T03:47:34","slug":"hainan-coconut-drink-known-for-sexist-ads-turns-its-gaze-to-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/hainan-coconut-drink-known-for-sexist-ads-turns-its-gaze-to-men.html","title":{"rendered":"Hainan Coconut Drink Known for Sexist Ads Turns Its Gaze to Men"},"content":{"rendered":"

Years after using women in sexist advertisement campaigns, China\u2019s much-favored coconut milk brand is now putting the gaze on men\u2019s bodies, as they use gym-built men to promote the brand for the first time.<\/p>\n

Coconut Palm debuted their male models on Women\u2019s Day during their daily livestreams on short-video platform Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Dressed in black shorts and tank tops, the men flaunted their abs and muscles while selling products.<\/p>\n

A product of the island province of Hainan, Coconut Palm is so popular that it has been served at state banquets. But the brand\u2019s advertisements that\u00a0tout\u00a0the coconut milk\u2019s ability to give women large breasts and fair skin have frequently touted controversy, with local authorities in 2019 saying Coconut Palm was \u201csuspected of false and vulgar advertising.\u201d<\/p>\n

The motive behind Coconut Palm bringing male models on board is unclear, and Sixth Tone\u2019s phone calls to the company Monday went unanswered.<\/p>\n

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A video clip shows male models presenting the products of Coconut Palm Group. From Douyin<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Videos of the men posing together with female models during Coconut Palm\u2019s livestreams have since gone viral and are still dominating discussions on major social platforms like\u00a0Xiaohongshu\u00a0and\u00a0Weibo. Many viewers even commented about what the men should do and wear during the next livestreaming sessions \u2014 some\u00a0suggested\u00a0they should shave their legs, while others recommended having them in suits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe brand is promoting equality as it really objectifies everyone equally,\u201d a user on lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu\u00a0wrote.<\/p>\n

As Coconut Palm\u2019s recent campaign went viral, the brand appears to be capitalizing on the interest. During the past few nightly livestreams on Douyin, the host also asked the audience to take screenshots or record the male models\u00a0taking off their shirts, though didn\u2019t say why.<\/p>\n

But Coconut Palm hasn\u2019t completely gotten rid of their female models \u2014 dubbed the \u201cfour beauties\u201d \u2014 and still shows them dressed in tight clothing during their livestreams. Douyin, which even\u00a0limitswomen from advertising lingerie, resulting in men taking up that role, has suspended the brand\u2019s livestreams several times over \u201cvulgarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A video clip shows female models presenting the products of Coconut Palm Group. From Douyin<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Domestic media\u00a0reported\u00a0that Coconut Palm\u2019s recruitment of male models is a shift in its promotion strategy, though the brand still seems to invest heavily on appearance. The male models were required to be over 5 feet, 9 inches tall and have abs.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Coconut Palm\u2019s male models haven\u2019t been entirely successful in helping boost the company\u2019s image or sales. According to Chanmama, Douyin\u2019s e-commerce data analysis platform, sales for the coconut milk were\u00a0below\u00a01,000 yuan ($145) when the male models made their debut on March 8, with about 100,000 viewers joining the livestream that night, compared to the \u201cfour beauties\u201d who racked in more orders before the men joined.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir drinks do taste good,\u201d one Weibo\u00a0comment\u00a0said. \u201cBut I feel embarrassed to buy the products considering their packaging and ads.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Years after using women i<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":300,"href":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299\/revisions\/300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ftpol.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}