Cherries in the vegetable field and cantaloupe without vine in the agricultural product delivery video. Screenshot of the online store video

In the video of agricultural products being delivered, a yacon sapling grows a piece of yacon. Screenshot of the online store video

"cherries in the vegetable field", "cantaloupe without vine", "dozens of yacon fruits pulled out in a row" ... Many people have brushed this kind of outrageous delivery video on the Internet that does not conform to the law of plant growth.

Live broadcasts of agricultural products and short videos with the background of the field have become a very hot operation method today, and many businesses and farmers in the production area have used this to attract consumers, but there is no lack of exaggerated, contrary to common sense, and content claiming efficacy also appeared in the video, and many netizens thought that this was "insulting intelligence".

Behind this, "traffic is king" is a booster, and some stores have gained millions of fans with such videos. Experts point out that "anti-intellectual" methods that violate basic scientific principles cannot be used to market, which is suspected of fraud. Outrageous fake videos are related to low illegal costs and lax platform supervision.

In the current context of agricultural product video delivery in full swing, building a healthy agricultural product video delivery ecology and strengthening supervision are hard power.

Chaos

Some videos of agricultural products go against common sense

"If you don't plant it, you can't grow it anymore, we have a bumper harvest in macadamia nut producing areas... Intend to sell it yourself this year... If you like it, take one and taste it." Video notes from an "Taste Source Nuts" agricultural product store on an e-commerce platform show strings of grape-like hulled macadamia nuts growing on a pergola, and the short video anchor chops the vine branches of macadamia nuts as he walks.

A reporter from the Beijing News swiped a number of exaggerated propaganda videos when selling agricultural products on the Internet. Some buried dozens of cantaloupe without vine in the desert pretending to be desert melons, and the video claimed that "a desert, a melon, bring you the minqin melon on the tip of your tongue". There are also videos showing pulling out a snow lotus plant growing 20 to 30 yacon fruits... Even more outrageous, there are "wonders" such as cherries growing in vegetable fields and dozens of apples growing on a branch. Many netizens ridiculed that "those who have been planted and those who have not planted are silent" and "it is simply insulting to IQ".

Botanist Shi Jun pointed out that most of the above videos are posed and do not conform to normal plant growth laws, "obviously impossible, it is difficult to pull out snow lotus, and it is impossible to produce so many yacon fruits." "Merchants marketing agricultural products through short videos to attract traffic is a current advertising model, but it cannot be marketed in an "anti-intellectual" way, which violates basic scientific principles.

Not only that, publicizing the "efficacy" of agricultural products has also become a "highlight" in many short videos of agricultural products. For example, the "black gold fruit tea" sold in the live broadcast room of a store called "Guoda Huashengtang" on the Internet claims to clear heat and detoxify, treat constipation, insomnia and dreams. Goji berry seller "Rixi Ximingpu" said in the live broadcast room that "black goji berries can replenish liver qi and kidney qi"; The anchor of the live broadcast room of the "Lubeetang Traditional Tonic Shop" said that his honey is wild honey, "uncomfortable throat, anorexia in children, and men can drink alcohol and stay up late."

On March 3, a reporter from the Beijing News asked Guoda Huashengtang as a consumer about the efficacy of "black gold fruit tea", and the store staff only said that they could try to drink and see, and supported 14 days without reason to return.

Zhong Lanan, a senior partner at Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, pointed out that the law clearly stipulates that ordinary food is not allowed to claim efficacy. The fruit tea, honey, etc. mentioned in the above video have healing properties that are obviously illegal.

In fact, the so-called efficacy of these agricultural products has long been refuted by the media and food science experts. For example, regarding the efficacy of black goji berries, food safety science expert Yun Wuxin previously pointed out in the article that black goji berries do not have the legendary magical effects, it is just a berry with a good taste.

Detectives

Attracting traffic creates an influencer store with millions of fans

Behind the widespread circulation of the above-mentioned exaggerated and contrary to common sense short videos is the increasingly fierce competition for online sales of agricultural products, and merchants try to use these exaggerated videos to bring traffic. The Beijing News reporter inquired and found that the number of views of such short videos is not small, and some even have more than 10,000 likes, and most of the fans of related stores range from tens of thousands to millions.

The video account of the flagship store of "Tan Weijun", which specializes in fruits, has accumulated 113.8 million fans and 202.3 million likes, and the number of e-commerce stores associated with the account has reached 83,3. The sales of fruits in the store are also considerable, and Wuming Wokan, Red Heart Barley (guava) and so on have become sales hits. Among them, the monthly sales of Wuming Wokan are as high as 7,<> units. The Beijing News reporter saw from the account's notes and videos that it released a number of agricultural product videos that violated common sense and were obviously fake, and the above-mentioned video of "cherries growing in the vegetable field" came from this account.

Wang Shuai, who grows apples in central Shaanxi, confirmed to the Beijing News reporter that a few years ago, the apple market was not good, and villagers tried to shoot short videos and live broadcasts to sell, "Some villagers wrapped apples around a tree trunk with wire, and ruined a lot of apples." But sales are relatively low, and Apple still can't sell. ”

Bai Ming, a member of the Degree Committee of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, pointed out to the Beijing News reporter that the video delivery of agricultural products that violates common sense and false publicity reflects the bad atmosphere of online platforms pursuing "traffic first", "The proliferation of such videos will make the market form vicious competition, resulting in merchants who really do agricultural products are not taken seriously, and in the long run, it will evolve into 'bad money driving out good money', which is not conducive to the development of the entire agricultural products industry." ”

"The harm of such short videos is not only the industry, but also affects minors' cognition of agricultural products, and if teenagers believe it, it is very detrimental to the popularization and promotion of science." Lawyer Zhong Lanan said.

harm

Fake agricultural videos are suspected of fraud

According to the 2022 "618" consumer rights protection public opinion analysis report released by the China Consumer Association, from June 2022 to June 6, 1, a total of 6 negative information related to "live streaming goods" was collected. This includes complaints about "live streaming of agricultural products that violates common sense and tests consumers' tolerance limits".

In the report, the China Consumer Association titled "Egg Tree? Live streaming can only rely on counterfeiting to win" phenomenon, pointing out that many netizens reported that many live broadcasts of agricultural products that violate common sense appear on some platforms, such as eggs can grow on trees, mangosteen knots in the ground like potatoes, flowers grow on tall branches and need to climb ladders to pick them, and so on. The China Consumer Association said that the innovation and breaking of the circle of commercial live broadcast cannot deviate from the most basic common sense of life and business ethics.

"The main thing is that the cost of breaking the law is low." Bai Ming said that such a video shooting is low in difficulty and low in cost, even if it is complained and the platform is banned, it can be continued on a different platform.

On March 3, a reporter from the Beijing News complained to the e-commerce platform as a consumer and asked about the platform's review mechanism, and the telephone receiver said that the platform has a special department to regularly check the short videos of merchants, and if it does not meet the rules of the platform, the reviewers will deduct points or reduce the credibility of the store, and in serious cases, they will remove the goods or close the store.

Zhuang Shuai, founder of Bailian Consulting, believes that agricultural product videos that violate common sense and are outrageous and fake on the one hand harm the rights and interests of consumers, and on the other hand, affect the healthy development of the live streaming e-commerce industry, making merchants lose confidence in short videos. Regulatory and rule loopholes have allowed many people to exploit loopholes, and the binding force of the platform on merchants is far from enough.

In Zhong Lanan's view, China's Consumer Rights Protection Law stipulates that merchants must truthfully inform or disclose the true situation of goods. These short videos that violate common sense and claim efficacy mislead consumers to consume, are suspected of fraud, and infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. In addition, China's advertising law stipulates that advertising should be true, and "anti-intellectual" short videos obviously violate this.

Supervision

Build a video delivery ecology for healthy agricultural products

According to data from the China Internet Network Information Center, as of December 2021, the number of online shopping users in China reached 12 million. According to relevant statistics, in 8, the national online retail sales of agricultural products will be 42.2022 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5313.8%.

On the one hand, the online sales of agricultural products are booming, and on the other hand, the chaos of false short videos in the industry is frequent. Bai Ming believes that this requires judicial departments, law enforcement departments, e-commerce platforms and other parties to build a healthy video delivery ecology for agricultural products through various regulatory measures.

In fact, since 2021, various national departments have accelerated the rectification of the live broadcast industry. In April 2021, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Public Security and other seven departments jointly promulgated the Measures for the Administration of Online Live Streaming Marketing (Trial); In March 4, relevant state departments jointly issued the Opinions on Further Regulating the Profit-making Behavior of Online Live Streaming to Promote the Healthy Development of the Industry; In June 2022, the State Administration of Radio and Television and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism jointly formulated the Code of Conduct for Online Anchors, which regulates the relevant behaviors of e-commerce live streaming platforms, operators and marketers.

In the above-mentioned public opinion report on consumer rights protection, the China Consumer Association suggested that timely intervention and active intervention in product quality, promotional pricing, and potential safety hazards should be strengthened from the aspects of strict supervision, dynamic supervision, social supervision, and efficiency improvement of co-governance and sharing, continue to restrict marketing and exhibition behavior, effectively increase illegal costs, and support the construction of new business models that are more sincere, more valuable, and more connotative.

During the National Two Sessions this year, Shu Xin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, submitted the "Proposal on Promoting the Further Healthy Development of the Live Streaming E-commerce Industry", which clearly promoted the "standardization" and "development" of live streaming e-commerce, established and improved the e-commerce live broadcast management system, carried out hierarchical and categorical management of anchors, and the industry authorities took the lead in establishing a joint mechanism to promote the high-quality development of live streaming e-commerce.

Beijing News reporter Liu Huan