China haircare brand faces backlash as post depicting flirty ‘fake besties’ ‘betrays’ women

A haircare brand in China has faced significant backlash for allegedly “demeaning women” and “promoting misogyny” in an online post that depicted “fake besties” as flirtatious, envious women who are willing to “seduce their best friend’s boyfriend”.

The controversy erupted on November 6 when Bee & Flower, known as Fenghua in Chinese, shared a post titled “See What True and Fake Besties Are Like” on its official Xiaohongshu account, which boasts nearly 160,000 followers.