Yeeshu factory draws 10,000 visitors — then outrages many with bawdy slogans

Factory open day meant to burnish credentials

Yeeshu Group (椰树集团), commonly known as Yeeshu (椰树), opened its Hainan production lines to the public over the Lunar New Year and it has been reported that the free, “industrial tourism” event drew more than 10,000 visitors by February 22. The move looked like a clear attempt to showcase automated production, product quality and the brand’s century‑long history: guided tours, free tastings, a museum of old equipment and packaging, and a visible end‑to‑end coconut‑juice line that many praised as clean and modern.

Immersive aesthetics and viral photo opportunities

The factory’s bold red, yellow and blue aesthetic — a mashup of geometric, industrial and traditional pavilion elements that netizens dubbed “牛皮癣风” — turned the plant into an instant social‑media backdrop. Visitors reportedly treated it as a “土潮” photo spot, posting UGC across Douyin and Xiaohongshu. For many, the event succeeded as experiential marketing: hands‑on demos, sampling and histories of the brand’s 383 reported experiments to perfect coconut‑juice emulsification helped underline Yeeshu’s technical claims.

Slogans reignited a long‑running controversy

But what was meant to be a public relations win rapidly sparked backlash. It has been reported that banners displayed in the plant included sexually explicit and objectifying phrases — for example, claims that “drinking more coconut juice makes breasts fuller” and references to female employees’ bodies — language that many called vulgar, sexist and potentially false advertising. Yeeshu has faced repeated regulatory action over similar marketing in the past; it has been reported that between 2019 and 2024 the group incurred cumulative fines totalling over one million yuan for related violations. Was this a clever stunt for eyeballs or a tone‑deaf misstep that ignored compliance and family audiences? The public answer was sharply split.

Response, business logic and reputational risk

Yeeshu’s customer service reportedly acknowledged the banners were produced by the group but said it could not confirm whether affected employees objected; frontline staff have said they will “pay attention to comments and make improvements,” according to reports. Analysts note the arithmetic behind the controversy: Yeeshu’s 2023 sales were reportedly about 5.0 billion yuan and its strategy appears rooted in converting controversy into rapid exposure — a pattern some critics call “pay a fine, buy publicity.” That may sustain short‑term attention, but regulators, changing social norms and family‑oriented tourism make it a risky long‑term branding path. The factory opening was an opportunity to reset image around product and process; instead, Yeeshu’s choice to display provocative slogans has turned a potential brand upgrade into another test of how — and whether — the company can reconcile sales‑driven marketing with regulatory and reputational limits.