What does the 1-yuan beauty coffee case mean for china and coffee?

A coffee shop offered a 1-yuan beauty coffee group-buy package limited to women under 35 during evening hours, with a note that customers the owner did not find attractive would pay the difference. The listing drew widespread criticism and negative reviews, was taken offline by the platform on May 20, and the shop's social media account was deleted the same day.

The shop later reappeared on the group-buy platform without the controversial package, but fresh low ratings led to a second removal. A Legal Daily lawyer said the package may have violated the Advertising Law and the Civil Code, while overly aggressive review campaigns by netizens could amount to cyberbullying. The case highlights how advertising rules and platform review shape china and coffee retail.

A coffee shop launched a "1-yuan beauty coffee, choose one of three" group-buy package, requiring purchase only by women under 35 during specific evening hours, with a note stating "if the boss doesn't think you're pretty, you need to pay the difference," sparking strong public outrage and a flood of negative reviews. The shop initially explained it wanted customers who matched the store's style, but this failed to quell the controversy, and it was subsequently taken offline by the platform and had its social media account deleted. Recently, the shop reappeared online. Although the controversial package had disappeared, netizens once again gave low ratings, causing it to be taken offline a second time. A lawyer from Legal Daily pointed out that the package was suspected of violating the Advertising Law and the Civil Code, while overly aggressive criticism from netizens could constitute cyberbullying. Front Street Coffee reminds that both merchant advertising and platform review must strictly adhere to legal boundaries.

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Recently, a netizen exposed on social media that a certain coffee shop had launched a group-buy activity called "1-yuan beauty coffee, choose one of three," with a note stating "only for beauties under 35, and only for consumption between 7-10 PM," along with additional terms such as "the boss is very picky, if he doesn't think you're pretty, you need to pay the difference."

According to available information, the exact time this group-buy package was listed is unclear. After it was listed, because the package's notes made many people uncomfortable, some netizens spontaneously organized to boycott the shop, deliberately leaving a large number of low-rating negative reviews on the platform.

Facing the backlash, the shop explained that the age threshold for group-buy users was set to serve customers who matched the store's style, and that it was not malicious toward female consumers as netizens interpreted. However, this response did not win netizens' approval. On May 20, the coffee shop was apparently reported and subsequently taken offline by the platform. On the same day, the shop's social media account was also deleted.

Recently, this coffee shop reappeared on the group-buy platform. The previously highly controversial "1-yuan beauty coffee, choose one of three" package was gone, and along with it disappeared the sixty-some negative reviews left by netizens. However, netizens still harbored dissatisfaction and resentment toward this comeback coffee shop, so they once again gave low ratings on the platform, causing the shop to be taken offline again.

After this incident was reported by a reporter from Legal Network, a lawyer from Legal Daily analyzed that the merchant's "1-yuan beauty coffee" package constituted obvious excessive advertising and was suspected of violating Article 9 of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China—advertisements must not contain obscene, pornographic, gambling, superstitious, terrifying, or violent content. At the same time, this advertising method was also suspected of violating the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China.

The lawyer stated that determining whether such behavior is illegal requires comprehensive consideration of multiple factors including advertising content, advertising purpose, and social impact—for example, whether the advertisement aims to attract traffic by belittling or objectifying women, and whether it has had a negative impact on the public.

On the other hand, in the lawyer's view, netizens spontaneously giving the coffee shop low ratings and causing it to be forced offline falls under the exercise of citizens' right to freedom of speech and is protected by law.

However, he also pointed out that some netizens' criticism of this coffee shop has exceeded the boundaries of general accusations and questions, rising to the level of attacks, insults, and even wanton abuse, damaging the shop's goodwill—this constitutes cyberbullying. If held accountable, they may need to bear corresponding tort liability or administrative liability.

In addition, as a group-buy platform providing advertising services for merchants, it should establish stricter review mechanisms and conduct multi-dimensional reviews of products listed by merchants, including text, images, and videos, to ensure they comply with laws, regulations, and platform rules. At the same time, the platform needs to strengthen the combination of technical means and manual review, improve review sensitivity and efficiency, ensure that harmful information can be intercepted in a timely manner, and avoid loopholes in machine review.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.