Arab News Japan

Chinese retailer Miniso Group has apologised for promoting itself as a Japanese brand and said it would implement the necessary alterations to the brand positioning and marketing strategy to rectify backlash from Chinese consumers.

The company, which has received backlash from Chinese consumers due to being insufficiently patriotic, released a long apology on the Chinese social media platform Weibo on August 18, where they admitted to have “taken the wrong path” in its branding due to hiring a Japanese designer as its chief designer and that they are a “proud Chinese brand through and through.”

It also vowed to remove the Japanese elements from its stores by changing the signboards, shopping bags and the interior decoration in its stores, a process which Miniso said had started in 2019, adding that it would complete the moves to re-design their brand by 2023.

Miniso, which has more than 5,000 stores in China and internationally, has often been compared to the Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo due to the similarity of their logo design, as well as to the Japanese retail brand Muji due to their sale of cheaper versions of the homeware and lifestyle products offered.

It has also described itself as “a Japanese-inspired lifestyle product retailer,” which gives consumers the impression that the brand is Japanese.

The apology statement came after the company was faced with anger from Chinese social media users after the Spanish Miniso Instagram account posted a picture of a doll dressed in a qipao dress, a traditional Chinese outfit, and mistakenly described it as a Japanese geisha doll.

The company said it would punish the senior executives involved in the previous strategy and that all overseas social media accounts will be monitored by its headquarters in the future.

“We will strictly examine the content and do a good job of Chinese culture and values’ exportation,” Miniso said.