After being accused of selling shorter-than-the-warned towels, the majority of Chinese manufacturers of sanitary pads are apologetic.
Following popular social media video that showed Chinese ladies measuring the measures of sanitary pads from well-known brands, which revealed that the majority of them were less than what was stated on their presentation, there is a fury.
The outcry has spanned to more serious issues involving people who have been defrauded by feminine hygiene products, which have a record of security breaches in China.
Foreign women have taken it upon themselves to raise issues with the country’s most popular romantic health product, sanitary pads.
A person on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu examined nine different models of sanitary cushions with a measuring tape in one of the earliest video, which revealed that all of the brands all had shorter lengths than the ones on their presentation.
Does slicing a few centimeters make you wealthy? the person wrote in her picture.
Customers began to criticize sanitary pad manufacturers for being deceptive after the revelations.
One well-known Weibo post claims that” the exaggerated sanitary pad length is similar to the shoes under men’s foot.”
Chinese news outlet The Paper discovered that nearly 90 % of the products were” shrunken,” measuring at least 10mm shorter than the products ‘ packaging specifications, amid the outcry. Perhaps shorter breathable levels, which are meant to absorb menstrual flow, were tucked into the majority of them.
The Paper even reported that federal sanitary pad requirements do not specify the length of the absorbent part in sanitary pads, despite the paper’s report stating that the items you calculate within 4 % of the advertised measures.
Officials said they were updating the current national standard on sanitary pads in response to a wave of problems, according to local advertising.
The well-known Chinese company ABC further stoked outrage after its client company reportedly responded to a problem by saying “if you don’t accept the size difference ] then you can choose not to get it.”
ABC said in a statement in mid-November that it was “deeply sorry” for the “inappropriate” response, and promised to improve its products to achieve “zero deviation”. Additionally, Shecare and Beishute, two other businesses, have apologized.
Chinese state media has also weighed in on the controversy, criticising manufacturers for cutting corners.
A Xinhua article states that” the quality of sanitary pads is directly related to the user’s health and comfort as a daily necessity for women.” ” Some products on the market have problems that cannot be ignored,” said one author.
The most popular feminine hygiene item in China is a market value of$ 13 billion ($ 10 billion ). The products have, however, consistently made safety-related headlines.
In southeast China, police detained a sizable “fake sanitary towel” production in 2016, where millions of sanitary pads were produced without proper hygiene procedures and packaged as well-known brands. After a woman claimed she found a needle in one of its sanitary pads, the well-known feminine hygiene brand Space 7 apologized and ordered an investigation in 2021.
The anger also reflects women’s deeper concerns about the caliber of goods they purchase.
” Is it that hard for sanitary pads to tackle women’s needs”? reads a popular hashtag on Weibo.
Another trending phrase that has caught on amid the blowback encapsulates the outrage:” Sanitary pads yield a centimetre, women yield for a lifetime”.