Another Samsung scandal is infuriating Chinese consumers, further complicating matters for a company in desperate need of a win.
A picture of Samsung employees kowtowing before a group of distributors went viral in China, sparking outrage across the country. The image shows several Chinese Samsung officials being forced to bow down before the distributors in the audience at a sales meeting in Shijiazhuang, revealed the People’s Daily.
#Samsung Chinese executives get on their knees and beg for more orders, irritate Chinese netizens https://t.co/urmIWC6JXr @SamsungNewsroom pic.twitter.com/jo5EdGQv8U
— People’s Daily,China (@PDChina) October 31, 2016
“Some South Korean executives of Samsung China were deeply moved, so they kneeled down to the distributors as a way of expressing thanks according to their South Korean etiquette. The Chinese executives kneeled down too, because they were also moved,” Samsung China told reporters. The people on stage reportedly bowed to thank the distributors for continuing to purchase Samsung products despite the recent Galaxy Note 7 debacle. In spite of general good feelings on the part of South Korean executives, the Chinese citizenry may perceive things a little differently.
It was reported that Chinese executives were forced to kowtow and beg distributors for more orders. Since the post came out on Weibo, it has been viewed around 2 million times. Many of the comments called Samsung’s actions an “inhuman insult.”
In Korean culture, kneeling is a sign of gratitude and respect. In China, kowtowing is a sign of guilt, inferiority, submission, or disgrace
Chinese netizens accuse Samsung of failing to treat its employees as human beings and putting the burden of guilt for the exploding Note 7 disaster on China’s shoulders. Some even call for a boycott of Samsung products, reports the Shanghaiist.
This is the second time in a period of just two weeks that Samsung has infuriated Chinese consumers. Even after Samsung began recalling its phones due to their tendency to explode, catch fire, or melt, the tech giant told Chinese customers their devices were not dangerous. When one exploded, China accused Samsung of intentionally cheating Chinese customers.
“Foreign companies who appear to employ any less favorable policy for the China market can quickly find themselves waist-deep in a P.R. quagmire,” Mark Natkin of Marbridge Consulting, an advisory firm in Beijing, told The New York Times. Samsung is expecting significant profit losses for the Note 7 fiasco, and the ongoing outcry against the company in China is unlikely to help.
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