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China has the biggest ice-cream market in the world, valued at 150 billion yuan ($23 billion) in 2020.
The recent heatwave there has set the scene for a new phenomenon: ‘Ice-cream Assassins’ 雪糕刺客 xuě gāo cì kè.
The assassins are luxury ice-cream brands like Chicecream 钟薛高 zhōng xuē gāo, which was founded in 2018.
Entrepreneur, Lín Shèng 林盛, is the founder of Chicecream. He seems to have cracked the “why pay less when you can pay more” pricing strategy.
Not surprisingly, the brand has had faced a number of controversies:
作为国产贵价雪糕的“先驱”，钟薛高从诞生之日就极具争议。而善于借势营销的钟薛高，在抢占了一部分用户心智的同时，也在成立仅16个月，营收就突破了1亿元人民币
As the leader in China’s domestic high-end ice-cream brands, Chicecream has been highly controversial since it was founded. Chicecream has been good at taking advantage of marketing opportunities, grabbing the attention of some consumers, with revenues exceeding RMB 100 million yuan in only 16 months since its establishment.
Zhong Xue Gao recently became the focus of a viral post on Weibo by a netizen claiming that its ice-creams don’t melt:
一根雪糕被网友拿来做实验、油煎烹煮的同时，#钟薛高31度室温下放1小时不化#、#市监局回应钟薛高雪糕烧不化#等相关话题的阅读量分别达到了12.2亿次和5.8亿次。累计超10万次的讨论让钟薛高的热度居高不下
Netizens tried to burn and fry the ice-cream to see if it would melt. Tags such as #Zhong Xue Gao doesn’t melt at room temperature of 31 degrees for an hour, #SAMR responds to Zhong Xue Gao’s ice cream burning without melting# and other related topics reached 1.22 billion and 580 million views respectively. The over 100,000 online conversations about the issue put Zhong Xue Gao at the top of the social media rankings.
Some netizens joke that:
还没等我攒够钱，钟薛高就翻车了 - Chicecream crashed even before I could save enough money to buy one.
And the high prices have also got netizens annoyed:
“我的社恐被一根雪糕治好了——拿了一支雪糕收银员告诉我59，准备付完钱就走的我第一次鼓起勇气说，这个雪糕我不要了。”引发网友的共鸣，“雪糕刺客”的梗愈演愈烈
‘My social anxiety has finally been cured by an ice-cream. As I prepared to pay, the cashier told me it was RMB 59. This is the first time I plucked up the courage to say: ‘I don’t want this ice-cream’. This was echoed by many netizens, and the phrase ‘ice-cream assassin’ has gained immense popularity.
So this week we explore online conversations about China’s overheated consumers being caught out, assassinated, by extortionate high prices of ice-cream.
The Favourite Five
1. 被宰 bèi zǎi
slaughtered, tricked out of your money
作为一名深感被宰的老母亲，从此溜娃时，我只好悄悄避开雪糕店 - As an experienced mother who has been caught out before, I subtly avoid walking past the ice-cream shop when I take my child out.
Note: Similar words we have covered before in this newsletter are 被坑了 bèi kēng le, and 被薅了 bèi hāo le.
2. 冤种 yuān zhǒng
to be taken advantage of; someone who is taken advantage of
可那时的我，却不知道自己早已踏上了“冤种”之路 - At that time I did not realise I was already on my way to losing all my money.
Note: Internet slang word originally from a north eastern dialect spoken around Liaoning, meaning someone who’s lost out because of their own stupidity.
3. 雪糕刺客 xuě gāo cì kè
ice-cream assassin
“雪糕刺客”也随即在各大社交平台被网友热议 - ‘Ice-cream assassins’ have been hotly discussed by netizens on all major platforms.
Background: this one of the newest additions into the Internet Chinese slang dictionary. See SupChina phrase of the week for more.
4. 水能载舟，亦能覆舟 shuǐ néng zài zhōu yì néng fù zhōu
the boat can be carried by the water, but water can also overturn it; the people can support you or reject you
然而，水能载舟亦能覆舟。“高价”需要“高质”来匹配 - But, your customers can be both your biggest supporters and your most ruthless critics. If you have a high price, you must also deliver on high quality.
Note: this phrase is traced back to Xún Zǐ 荀子, a Confucian scholar who lived during the Warring States period around the third century BC.
More: the ‘water’ in the original quote means ‘the people’, ‘the boat’ means political leaders. In this context the boat is the brands or companies that are at the mercy of their customers.
5. 德不配位，必有灾殃 dé bù pèi wèi, bì yǒu zāi yāng
misfortune will be brought upon those who are not virtuous
无法抑制网友对其“价不配位”的质疑 - There was no way to stop netizens calling into question its unethical pricing.
Note: this phrase is a play on words of the original which is traced back to 朱子治家格言 - Zhu’s Maxims for Managing the Home. Published in the Qing Dynasty, its 522 characters offer advice on how to manage one’s family and home life life. Here the play on words still carries the meaning of the original - unethical, even though price (价) replaces morals (德).
Consuming the conversation
Useful words
齁 hōu
thirsty from eating something too salty or sweet
这些五颜六色的巧克力完全是“中看不中吃”，一口下去甜到发齁 - All sorts of chocolate look a lot better than they taste. One mouth full is more than enough.
心智 xīn zhì
minds of consumers
善于借势营销的钟薛高，在抢占了一部分用户心智 - Chicecream has been good at taking advantage of marketing opportunities, and grabbing the attention of some consumers.
Note: we discussed this word 13 November newsletter last year.
嘴馋 zuǐ chán
greed for a certain type of food
既可以满足我的嘴馋，又可以打消我怕长肉的顾虑 - It feeds my desire for what I want to eat, but it also removes my concern of gaining weight.
馋虫 chán chóng - ‘greedy insect’, a glutton
蒙圈 mēng quān
surprised and don’t know what to say, confused or lost
我随手拿了两个奇异果。可结账时，我有点“蒙圈”——53.2元 - I picked up two kiwi fruits. But when I came to pay I was lost for words - RMB 53.2!
Note: Internet slang word which originally come from north eastern dialect.
社恐 shè kǒng
social anxiety
我的社恐被一根雪糕治好了，我第一次鼓起勇气说，这个雪糕我不要了 - My social anxiety was cured by an ice-cream. This was the first time that I plucked up the courage to say: ‘I don’t want this ice-cream’.
Note: First discussed in October last year.
北漂 běi piāo
someone who moves to Beijing to work
创始人林盛大学毕业后北漂成为一名广告人 - After graduating, the founder, Lin Sheng, moved to Beijing and went into advertising.
Three-character
摆一道 bǎi yī dào
to be deceived
有一天我会猝不及防被“包装纸”摆一道 - One day I was caught out and off guard by the wrapping paper.
