JD.com says sorry to customers after Singles’ Day campaign with comedian sparks backlash

The adverse reaction to stand-up comedian Yang Li shows that JD.com underestimated how she is constantly targeted by male internet users

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Chinese female stand-up comedian Yang Li’s Single’s Day collaboration with JD.com triggered an online backlash. Photo: Handout

Published: 7:34pm, 18 Oct 2024Updated: 2:45pm, 13 Jan 2025

The Singles’ Day campaign of e-commerce giant JD.com started off on the wrong foot this week, as a number of users threatened to abandon the platform owing to its collaboration with controversial female stand-up comedian Yang Li.

Yang, known for her biting jokes about men, on Monday appeared in a JD.com live-streaming session that sparked a four-day backlash from some of the platform’s users, which prompted the Beijing-based online retailer to issue an apology on Friday.

A Weibo user, with the pseudonym Zhichilaotou, said he had cancelled his JD.com account and persuaded his friends to do the same on principle. In another Weibo post, a user with the handle Yiranhu wanted to know if JD.com was “ready to give up the male market by getting a feminist”.

According to JD.com’s statement posted on the Chinese microblogging site, the company assured customers that it does not have any follow-up projects with Yang. It pledged to raise the amount of vouchers and discounts during its campaign to “reward customers for their care and support”.

Chinese female stand-up comedian Yang Li has been constantly targeted by male internet users since she rose to fame in 2020. Photo: Weibo

JD.com also deleted a Monday post on Weibo that invited users to join the live-streaming session hosted by Yang on that day. She was tasked to promote healthcare products for the platform.

Similar promotional posts on Weibo that featured five other Chinese stand-up comedians, responsible for other categories on the platform, remained on Weibo as of Friday.

Coco Feng

Coco Feng joined the Post in 2019, covering the technology and internet sector from the Greater Bay Area. Previously, she worked at the Post's Beijing bureau.

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JD.com says sorry to customers after Singles’ Day campaign with comedian sparks backlash

The adverse reaction to stand-up comedian Yang Li shows that JD.com underestimated how she is constantly targeted by male internet users

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