Chinese Cafe Handcuffed Paper to Employees for Mistakes
Wore 'Criminal' Sign Around Neck
Explained as "Just for Fun" Amid Controversy
A video of a famous Chinese franchise cafe handcuffing employees with paper cuffs has sparked controversy. [Photo by SNS]
A video showing employees handcuffed with paper cuffs at a famous franchise cafe in China has sparked controversy.
According to recent local Chinese media reports, earlier this month, a franchise cafe called 'Good Me' produced and released an online video about mistakes made by employees.
In the released video, employees wearing uniforms are seen with their heads bowed, wearing handcuffs made from paper holders. Some employees have paper signs hanging around their necks with offenses written on them, such as "Crime of forgetting to put a straw in the cup," "Crime of overturning a teacup," and "Crime of not attaching an expiration date." Notably, one employee has a large paper sign around their neck that reads, "I am guilty of not putting in a straw, not covering the lid, and not adding nuts."
Local netizens who watched the video strongly criticized it. They expressed anger with comments like, "This is dehumanizing," "How can such a thing happen in this day and age," "Employees are human too," "It must be heartbreaking for the employees' parents to see this," "I will never go to that cafe again," "A cafe that plays with employees like toys," "Did they post this just to get criticized?" "I want to do the same to them," and "Calling someone a criminal just for forgetting a straw."
As the controversy continued, a store representative explained, "It was a video made for fun." He added, "The employees willingly participated in the filming," and "There was no actual punishment as depicted in the video." Afterwards, the cafe deleted the video and posted on its official social media, "We thought it was fun and a joke, but it caused misunderstandings and made consumers uncomfortable," and "We will be more cautious in our future marketing activities."
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