What the Chagee Photo Dispute Teaches About Coffee Service

A Chagee seventh-anniversary event photo has prompted a dispute over portrait rights. An ordinary consumer found that a picture of her, taken without her knowledge and showing an unflattering expression, was posted on the brand's official account and then shared by friends. She asked customer service to remove it that evening but received no reply, so she appealed publicly before the image was deleted.

The brand's explanation of its review standards deepened her suspicion of discriminatory treatment. Reaction online split between criticism of the review mechanism and claims that she overreacted, and Chagee had not issued an official response as of press time. The case highlights unclear portrait rights clauses at brand events, a practical point of coffee knowledge for chains running public promotions.

Recently, a set of promotional photos from Chagee's seventh-anniversary offline event caused a stir on social media. An ordinary consumer who participated in the event discovered that a photo of her with an unflattering expression had been taken without her knowledge and posted by the brand on its official account, after which she was mocked by friends who screenshotted it. When she contacted customer service to demand the photo's removal, she encountered delayed handling and received no public apology. The brand's explanation of its review standards further raised her suspicions of discriminatory treatment. After the incident escalated, netizens' opinions polarized, with some criticizing the brand's review mechanism and others believing the person involved was overthinking things. What ambiguous areas in the portrait rights clauses of brand events has this controversy exactly exposed? As of press time, Chagee has not yet officially responded.

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According to recent reports from multiple media outlets including Shanghai Legal Daily, during Chagee's seventh-anniversary offline celebration events held in several cities, the practices at one of the events sparked strong dissatisfaction among netizens.

A netizen who participated in Chagee's anniversary celebration posted a video on social media, stating bluntly, "Chagee posted an ugly photo of an ordinary person, won't respond directly! Won't apologize!" According to the person involved, among the offline event promotional materials Chagee recently posted on social media, one photo clearly showed her face.

Due to the shooting angle and shutter timing, the netizen's expression in the photo appeared unflattering. After the brand uploaded the photo to its official media account and it spread online, the person's friend saw this event photo and not only screenshotted it to send to her but also mocked her.

The person involved stated that she could not accept this unflattering photo taken without her being informed. She contacted official customer service around 7 p.m. that same evening, requesting the photo's deletion, but the official side ignored her. Left with no choice, she chose to post publicly appealing to the official side to handle the photo that had caused her distress. Subsequently, the official side deleted the relevant image around 10 p.m., but never once publicly apologized to her.

(The image shows the original photo in question, which has been deleted by the official side; the ordinary person involved has been pixelated)

In addition, when communicating with Chagee's customer service, the netizen asked whether the brand reviewed photos before posting them. The response was: "Both content and copy are reviewed; pixelating certain individuals might cause controversy, so we treat them differently."

In response, the person involved questioned the brand's so-called review standards: Why were others pixelated while she, an ordinary person, was not given equal treatment? She said this matter made her very anxious, constantly worried that someone might have screenshotted the ugly photo and spread it around for people to mock. Therefore, she hoped Chagee would give a direct response and public apology for this photo that had caused distress in her life.

Regarding this incident, netizens' views were divided. Some believed that although the photo was posted by the brand, what truly caused the person's anxiety was her friend's mockery—"the friend who mocked you is a bigger problem than Chagee." Others felt the person involved was overthinking and making a mountain out of a molehill, and that she shouldn't care too much about others' opinions.

Meanwhile, some netizens in the comments pointed out that Chagee's offline event registration page actually included a notice about portrait rights: "The event involves photography; successful registration implies default consent to the use of portrait rights."

The reporter also noticed that in Chagee's officially posted tweets, some event scene photos inevitably captured ordinary people present. From this perspective, as long as one participates in the event, the official side considers it equivalent to default acceptance of this clause, making it possible for one to appear in the brand's promotional photos without one's knowledge.

However, some people do not agree with the brand's default clause. In their view, Chagee posted this photo damaging to personal image without the person's consent, which has already affected the person's daily life. As the portrait rights holder, she deserves an apology from the brand.

As of press time, Chagee has not made any statement regarding the "posting an ugly photo of an ordinary person" incident.

Image source: Internet

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