Caught in a dispute! The controversy over the fake Moutai by Crazy Little Yang Ge, the appraisal agency responds: Can't just claim to be blackened at the slightest issue

"In the face of malicious attacks on our group, we will resolutely defend our rights to the end," Crazy Little Yang Ge said in a recent video, also mentioning that he specially prepared a variety of Moutai products for live streaming sales. Three Sheep continue to be embroiled in the Moutai counterfeit sales storm, and Crazy Little Yang Ge has shown a tough attitude in response to the accusations.

This has made the whistleblower, Mr. Zhang, very angry. He is the protagonist of the recent complaints about the Moutai counterfeit sales involving Three Sheep.

In May and June 2023, under the recommendation of Crazy Little Yang Ge in his live streaming room, Mr. Zhang purchased 24 bottles of Moutai zodiac liquor from the "Jiu Dao Jia Liquor Specialty Store" on Douyin. After preliminary testing by a third-party appraisal agency, 14 bottles were found to have issues, with 13 bottles showing signs of tampering and 1 bottle having discrepancies in the spray code and bottle cap that did not match genuine characteristics. However, after official authentication by the "Moutai Anti-Counterfeiting Office," all 24 bottles were confirmed to be authentic.

However, in a report by the Henan Urban Channel on this incident, the purchased Moutai packaging materials were poured into bottles of other brands, slightly modified, and then sent to the "Moutai Anti-Counterfeiting Office" in Wuhan, Hubei, and Hefei, Anhui for authentication, all of which were identified as genuine. Despite the official experts from Moutai later re-authenticating this "Moutai" bottle as fake, explaining that the initial appraiser was not meticulous and rigorous enough, the consistent conclusion reached by appraisers from two different provinces on the simple counterfeit liquor also made Mr. Zhang find it difficult to trust the authentication results of the Moutai Anti-Counterfeiting Office.

After the incident was exposed, Mr. Zhang told Phoenix News "Storm Eye" that neither the Douyin platform, Three Sheep, nor the Moutai official had contacted him regarding the "problematic Moutai" he purchased, nor had anyone re-authenticated the suspected fake Moutai liquor he bought.

It is worth noting that this is not an isolated case. Consumers Chen Li and Mr. Zhang had similar experiences. In October 2023, Chen Li sued Three Sheep, Jiu Dao Jia Liquor Specialty Store, and Douyin platform in court. Chat records from March this year between Chen Li and the legal department of Douyin platform provided to Phoenix News "Storm Eye" showed that they mentioned "we have many cases suing Three Sheep," but as a platform, they could not contact the "Hangzhou Jiu Dao Jia Trading Co., Ltd." behind Jiu Dao Jia Liquor Specialty Store, and hoped Chen Li would withdraw the lawsuit against the Douyin platform.

In addition to the platform's response, Mr. Zhang, Chen Li, and the staff of the third-party appraisal agency all mentioned to Phoenix News "Storm Eye" that the strong response from Crazy Little Yang Ge, a popular anchor, was an important reason that made them feel angry.

Regarding the Moutai counterfeit sales storm, Phoenix News "Storm Eye" has contacted Three Sheep multiple times, with one staff member stating that the company has issued a statement, and Little Yang Ge has also responded in a video. The remaining response is unknown, and they mentioned the need to contact the staff responsible for the project. Phoenix News "Storm Eye" has tried to contact the mentioned staff member through various means, adding them as friends on WeChat repeatedly, but has not received a response. At the same time, Phoenix News "Storm Eye" also sent a long text message to a staff member explaining their intentions and questions, but has not received a response as of the time of writing.

01 7 people bought 34 bottles of Moutai in Crazy Little Yang Ge's live streaming room, with 17 bottles being tampered with? At the beginning, Mr. Zhang bought Moutai because he was attracted by its financial attributes. As a novice, he inquired at several Moutai specialty stores, all of which said they were out of stock. Seeing the popular live streamer Xiao Yang selling Moutai, he thought such a big influencer wouldn't openly sell fakes. So, he and his wife successively purchased 24 bottles of Moutai in the live stream, all of which were Moutai from the Year of the Rabbit. With the guarantee of a 7-day return policy, during this period, he first had the Moutai tested by the anti-counterfeiting department before feeling at ease.

However, after later contacting an industry insider, Mr. Zhang heard about some difficult-to-detect counterfeiting methods, which made him more cautious. He started searching for information on authenticating Moutai on Douyin and found a third-party authentication agency to send the wine for testing in batches. The results showed that out of the 24 bottles of Moutai, 14 had issues, with 13 of them showing signs of tampering.

This led him to embark on a long journey of safeguarding his rights.

Consumer Chen Li told Phoenix Net "Storm Eye" that, based on recommendations in the Sanjiyang live stream, he also directly purchased 3 bottles of Moutai zodiac wine from "Jiudaojia Liquor Store". After being authenticated by a third-party agency, one bottle showed signs of tampering, but the local Moutai anti-counterfeiting department identified it as genuine.

Unlike Mr. Zhang, who entered the live stream room for Moutai, Chen Li usually enjoys watching short videos and often watches the skits of the popular live streamer Xiao Yang. Over the past two years, he has started placing orders for shopping in Xiao Yang's live stream. On June 30, 2023, he wanted to buy a bottle of Rabbit Moutai as a commemoration for his child. He first purchased a bottle, sent it to a third-party authentication agency, which confirmed it as authentic, and then on July 18, he ordered two more bottles. However, this time, during authentication, it was found that one of the bottles of Tiger Moutai showed signs of tampering.

Chen Li went to the local "Moutai anti-counterfeiting department", where through visual inspection, within 5 minutes, the staff verbally confirmed it as genuine. However, Chen Li believed that signs of tampering cannot be detected just by appearance, and he still had doubts about this result. The Moutai staff also mentioned that they "do not issue test reports to individuals", but they mentioned that they could provide a test report if required by the court through legal means.

To safeguard his rights and seek a judicial authentication result, in October 2023, Chen Li sued Sanjiyang, Jiudaojia Liquor Store, and Douyin.

In addition to the total of 14 bottles of wine with signs of tampering from Chen Li and Mr. Zhang, after the incident was exposed, the third-party authentication agency began to provide free authentication for Moutai purchased in Xiao Yang's live stream. According to their released video, they have received 7 bottles of Moutai from 5 users, with 3 bottles showing signs of tampering.

In other words, if the authentication results are accurate and the wine has not been swapped, out of the 34 bottles of Moutai purchased by the 7 consumers in Xiao Yang's live stream, 17 bottles are tampered, accounting for 50%. This does not yet include Mr. Zhang's additional problematic bottle.

What is "tampered" wine?

This refers to the outer packaging and anti-counterfeiting labels being identical to genuine Moutai, but the "cap" on the bottle neck is found to have been tampered with. People who counterfeit Moutai on the market will pour consumed Moutai into other bottles and reseal them for sale. Since genuine packaging materials are used, it is difficult to distinguish between real and fake. The traces of tampering on the bottle cap are also not easily detectable by the naked eye 02 Is "Pulling the Cap" Wine Fake? Why is it Difficult for the "Moutai Anti-counterfeiting Office" to Determine the Results?

The authenticity of Moutai wine has become a dilemma. How is "pulling the cap" identified? Does "pulling the cap" mean it is fake wine?

In this controversy and lawsuit, both involve the same third-party testing agency, Jiujiance.

The head of the testing agency, Xie Zhifeng, officially started popularizing knowledge about Moutai identification on Phoenix Net's "Storm Eye" since the end of 2018. In his experience of testing tens of thousands of bottles of Moutai, although there were occasional mistakes in the early days, there has been no experience of misidentification in issuing identification reports to the public and assisting consumers in legal proceedings.

Xie Zhifeng explained that the equipment they use for testing adopts X-ray technology, which uses X-rays to pass through the surface of an object and instantly display the image after the X-rays pass through the object, thereby achieving identification, "just like getting an X-ray at the hospital." Moutai wine is packaged in ceramic and glass bottles, but the bottle cap is made of plastic material, with 4 "buckles" locked in the bottle groove, which is irreversible. Because the original Moutai wine from the factory has a one-time molded bottle cap, the buckle will not deform. However, in "pulling the cap" wine, the bottle cap is pulled open in various ways, causing the buckle to deform to varying degrees.

In Xie Zhifeng's view, wine with signs of "pulling the cap" in Zodiac Moutai is most likely fake. However, he also mentioned that the purpose of "pulling the cap" does have multiple possibilities. In addition to counterfeiting, there is another possibility that industry insiders may open the bottle cap to taste and identify the authenticity of the wine.

Therefore, in this incident, directly concluding that Crazy Little Yang Brother sold fake wine, the logical chain is not yet fully sufficient.

However, taking a step back, even if the wine inside is genuine, "if the cap is pulled, from a food safety perspective, it can be considered that the wine has been opened, and the hygiene and quality safety cannot be guaranteed. If it circulates in the market in this way, there is a great risk to food safety," Xie Zhifeng stated.

This is also the reason why Chen Li finds it difficult to accept. Chen Li emphasized that even if the judicial identification ultimately determines that the Zodiac Moutai with the pulled cap is genuine, he does not believe that San Yiyang is not responsible. After all, "consumers may keep the wine for 10 or 20 years. If the bottle cap has been pulled, who knows what has been done? Even if you are told before the sale that the cap was pulled to taste and distinguish the authenticity, some people will not want to buy it. Moreover, buying it back without the consumer's knowledge is also deceiving the consumer," Chen Li said.

There is another key point in this incident. The identification by the "Moutai Anti-counterfeiting Office" does not seem to have stopped the dispute.

In a report by Henan Urban Channel, the purchased Moutai packaging materials were poured into other brand wines, and after simple modifications, they were identified as genuine by the "Moutai Anti-counterfeiting Office" in Wuhan, Hubei, and Hefei, Anhui. Although Moutai later sent out two experts to re-identify this bottle of "Moutai" and determined it to be fake, attributing the previous error to the lack of meticulous and rigorous operation by the two appraisers at the time However, it is not a coincidence that the two appraisers in different provinces came to the same conclusion.

Xie Zhifeng fully understands the work pressure of Moutai's anti-counterfeiting office. He mentioned that many people, once they counterfeit Moutai liquor, first test the waters and continuously improve by contacting the Moutai anti-counterfeiting office. Secondly, there are many appraisers, limited time for appraisal, and no targeted equipment, only a simple handheld magnifying glass to inspect. Some sophisticated counterfeiting techniques are easy to overlook, especially "piercing" and "removing the cap" methods. In addition, a very important point is that some counterfeit wines identified as genuine use authentic Moutai packaging materials obtained from various sources, making it impossible to tell from the appearance alone.

Even the "anti-counterfeiting labels" produced by the original factory can be obtained by lawbreakers. The most common practice is to tear off the label from a banquet Moutai priced at less than a thousand yuan and transfer it to counterfeit Moutai sold at a higher price.

Based on the appraisal experiences shared by Mr. Zhang and Mr. Chen, as well as the content recorded by Henan Urban Channel, both Mr. Zhang and Mr. Chen have doubts about the appraisal results when facing the staff of the "Moutai Anti-Counterfeiting Office" who rely solely on visual inspection of the liquor.

What made them even more uneasy is that the appraisal results of the Moutai Anti-Counterfeiting Office are only verbally communicated and they are not allowed to take photos, record audio, etc. This is also the reason why Mr. Chen insists on seeking justice through legal means, in order to obtain more professional and detailed appraisal results through judicial appraisal.

03 "Cannot always claim malicious defamation when faced with issues, I want him to face the truth"

At this point, there are still many doubts about the incident.

For example, whether it is Mr. Chen or Mr. Zhang, the liquor was purchased about a year ago. It is indeed difficult to verify whether the liquor has been swapped during this period, which is also the reason given by the customer service of "Jiu Dao Jia Liquor Specialty Store" when rejecting Mr. Zhang's return request.

In Mr. Chen's view, this is indeed a normal doubt, and this is also the reason why he hopes to find more consumers who have had similar experiences. He also wants more consumers who bought problematic Moutai from the Sanjiyang live broadcast to realize the issue itself. Now, through a third-party testing agency, out of 36 bottles of Moutai from 7 consumers, 17 bottles show signs of tampering, with the number being significant. If it is claimed that consumers collectively conspired to swap the bottles, the third-party testing agency maliciously defamed, there is indeed a real probability, but with more participants, it also increases credibility to a certain extent.

There is also confirmed information now. During Mr. Zhang's rights protection process, the Douyin store "Jiu Dao Jia Liquor Specialty Store" previously cooperated with Sanjiyang was removed from the platform. The staff of Sanjiyang stated, "Selling Moutai liquor requires authorized qualifications, it may not have the authorization," and also mentioned, "It may have had it at the beginning, but it may have expired and not been renewed." Regardless of the reason, it is sufficient to indicate that the store's qualifications for cooperation are problematic.

At the same time, even if the final appraisal confirms the authenticity of the liquor, the high frequency of "cap removal" signs in the Moutai sold by them is an area where Frenzy Xiaoyang has a responsibility to explain clearly to consumers.

However, it seems that these are not the issues that Frenzy Xiaoyang is concerned about. His response is quite tough, stating in a declaration that there has never been an official case of counterfeit liquor being identified in the products sold so far, and believes that the authenticity of Moutai liquor should be determined by official appraisal, and third-party organizations do not have authoritative and legal effectiveness In addition, Crazy Xiaoyang also stated in the live broadcast room, "We have caught several people, sold Moutai, had professionals remove the bottle caps, filled them with fakes, and then returned them to us."

This led Mr. Zhang, Chen Li, and Xie Zhifeng to confront Xiaoyang.

Xie Zhifeng is currently providing free appraisal services for Moutai purchased in Xiaoyang's live broadcast room. He stated that it was Crazy Xiaoyang's mention of a "so-called third-party appraisal studio" that inspired him. He felt the need to prove his professionalism, show the truth to the top anchors, and face the reality.

"When you find a cockroach at home, there may be many more in various corners," Xie Zhifeng said. He believes that many consumers may have trusted Crazy Xiaoyang's personal charm and bought Moutai with removed seals in his live broadcast room.

With the current decline in Moutai prices, Xie Zhifeng believes that part of the reason is also due to the phenomenon of "bad money drives out good." The "bad money" he mentioned refers to Moutai that does not meet the characteristics of genuine products. In his view, some top anchors in the live broadcast rooms are not professional in liquor, their selection is not rigorous enough, and they aim for low prices, leading to a large number of problematic Moutai circulating nationwide through their channels, thereby suppressing Moutai prices.

This incident has not yet reached a final conclusion.

Lawyer Gan Zhibin, who focuses on consumer rights, told Phoenix Eye that in live broadcasts, consumers generally do not directly purchase goods from Crazy Xiaoyang (the anchor), but rather click on links to jump to the e-commerce operator's webpage to complete the purchase. Therefore, the parties forming the online shopping contract are the e-commerce operator and the consumer, establishing a contractual relationship.

However, he stated that although the anchor is not liable for breach of contract in the online shopping contract relationship, if the anchor engages in advertising activities during live streaming, and if false advertisements are released to deceive or mislead consumers, they should be held accountable based on Article 56 of the Advertising Law in different capacities as anchors.

In this incident, "Jiudaojia Liquor Specialty Store" has already closed on Douyin. If consumers cannot contact the "Hangzhou Jiudaojia Trading Co., Ltd." behind the store, Gan Zhibin stated that if the advertising operator or publisher cannot provide the real name, address, and valid contact information of the advertiser, consumers can demand compensation from the advertising operator or publisher in advance.

Furthermore, if the anchor knowingly sells counterfeit goods through the live broadcast despite the source being counterfeit, they may be suspected of the crime of "selling goods with counterfeit registered trademarks" under Article 214 of the Criminal Law.

Moreover, many of the identified problematic liquors show traces of being tampered with, even if they are ultimately identified as genuine. "If it is not a factory craftsmanship issue, then it can be determined that 'tampering' is a bottle that has been opened. If such goods are sold, the operator may violate the relevant provisions of Article 56 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law," Gan Zhibin stated.

At the same time, for consumers seeking to safeguard their rights, "if it is proven that consumers provide tampered liquors to appraisal institutions for appraisal, it may constitute fraud under civil law. If the appraisal institution and appraiser intentionally or with gross negligence cause losses to the parties during the appraisal process, they will also be held liable under the law," Gan Zhibin added Currently, Chen Li is still in litigation, waiting to go to court with the companies behind Douyin, Sanzhiyang, and Jiudaojia Liquor Store.

Mr. Zhang said that initially, he bought Moutai in the live broadcast room of Fengkuang Xiaoyangge because of his statement "I sell fake products, why haven't I been arrested yet." He also thought, with such a big anchor, how could he dare to openly sell fake Moutai on the platform, which was an important reason that convinced him to place an order. He believed that as a major anchor, it was unlikely to knowingly sell problematic Moutai, but "Jiudaojia Liquor Store" has already been removed from the platform. As a third-party anchor, instead of self-inspecting, he believed that others were "maliciously discrediting" and "felt very disappointed in Xiaoyangge," Mr. Zhang said.

(Mr. Zhang is a pseudonym in the article.)