A popular Chinese talent competition was suspended after the voting system led to crazed fans wasting yoghurt drinks.
A GROUP of 40 to 50 elderly people were sitting around a huge ditch, busy unpacking stacks of yoghurt drinks and pouring the content into the drain.
Someone captured their act on video and it went viral.
Nearly 300,000 bottles were wasted, all for the QR codes printed inside the yoghurt drink bottles to enable fans of a popular Chinese idol programme to support their favourite contestants.
The crazed fans needed the QR codes printed inside the yoghurt bottles to vote for their idols contesting in the Youth with You Season 3 show.
The video went viral across the social media platforms last week.
A member of the public who witnessed the act revealed on social media that 270,000 bottles of the beverage were wasted.
“It went on for a few days. About 40 to 50 people were hired for the job every day. The buyers could not finish the drinks, so they threw them away, ” he wrote.
Angry netizens immediately called for the wasteful act to be stopped, insisting that the culprits be punished.
“This is one case that has been exposed. We don’t know how many are out there and how much more has been wasted, ” said one netizen.
“Many children in the rural areas have never tasted yoghurt drinks, ” wrote another netizen.
Some people suggested for the beverages be given to the needy.
“Why must food be thrown away? You can always send them to construction sites or give to the poor, ” an Internet user urged.
Youth with You is a variety show that saw some 120 youngsters contesting to become members of a nine-man male idol group.
Apart from the votes cast by their mentors, special guests and live audience, the general public could also support their favourite participants by voting with the QR code printed on Mengniu flavoured milk products and two types of yogurt drinks.
A carton of 12 flavoured milk packets, costing 54 yuan (RM34.50), represented 10 votes.
A carton of 10 bottles of yoghurt drinks, priced at around 70 yuan (RM44.50), represented 20 votes.
To retrieve the QR code from the yogurt beverage, buyers had to open the bottle as it was printed on the inner side of the cap. Once opened, the drinks spoiled quickly.
Those who purchased the flavoured milk did not have to open the containers as the codes were printed on a separate card.
The programme premiered on iQiyi video-streaming platform on Feb 18. It was reported that such wastage also occurred last year when Season 2 of the show – which also adopted the same voting mechanism – was broadcast. It did not gain much criticisms then.
The recent incident captured a widespread attention due to the shocking images of seeing the drain being turned into a milky waterway, as the country implemented the Anti-Food Waste Law on April 29.
Under the law, eateries could face a penalty of between 1,000 yuan (RM637) and 10,000 yuan (RM6,370) if they mislead customers into ordering excessive quantities of food while food manufacturers could be fined between 5,000 yuan (RM3,190) and 50,000 yuan (RM31,900) for causing wastage in the productions.
Netizens have demanded for legal actions be taken against those who introduced the voting mechanism.
The dairy company has also been taken to task for printing the code inside the bottle.
The firm had used the same voting system to promote other products for another talent show Produce Camp 2021, which concluded last month.
Last Tuesday, Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau ordered for Youth with You Season 3 to be suspended.
The announcement came just days before the final round of the competition was scheduled to be aired over the weekend.
Although the bureau did not specify reasons for the suspension, it is widely believed that food wastage was the cause.
It said investigations – carried out based on public complaints – found the complaints were justified and instructed the production team to rectify them.
But fans expressed disappointment over the cancellation.
“Who are the idiots? I have been waiting to see my idol making his debut as a professional artiste, ” wrote netizen Nuhai.
Some speculated that the suspension was linked to a promising finalist, whose parents were said to be involved in drug and vice activities.
The participant quit the show last Wednesday.
China’s state media Xinhua News Agency has, in a commentary piece, criticised the production company and the sponsor for neglecting their social responsibility when adopting their promotion strategies.
“Such behaviour has misled the youngsters and eroded their moral values, ” it added.
The agency reported earlier that about 18 billion kilos of food was wasted every year in China’s urban catering industry, and over 35 billion kilos of grain loss was estimated at pre-consumption stages, including storage, transportation and processing.
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