The incident originated from the Annual Conference on Human Resource Management in China held on November 21. At that event, Wang Mei, the female CEO and Vice President of Qinghe University of Xiaomi Group, stated in a speech: “Xiaomi believes that in the future, whoever understands Diaosi will conquer the world, so let’s be young and reach out to the world.”
However, the term “Diaosi” that this executive used is a slang term in China, often humorously referring to young people considered to be failures (or “losers”), with mediocre appearances and no social standing. It is commonly used by netizens to mock each other, often considered discriminatory and disrespectful.
Of course, the implication from the university vice president was not meant to insult anyone. Her point was that youth would be the core consumer force and her company would create products that meet the consumption demands of these young people.
However, Chinese netizens did not see it that way. Immediately after the speech was published, it sparked a wave of outrage, even among Xiaomi fans:
“Are you implying that using Xiaomi products means you are among the inferior people?”
“Holding a Redmi in my hand, I just want to throw it away after hearing that.”
Some even argued that besides being disrespectful to users and fans, Wang Mei’s remarks contradicted the current situation as Xiaomi is trying hard to transition from a “low-cost” label to producing premium phone lines.
“Xiaomi has successfully pulled itself back into the low-end phone market,” a user commented.
The situation escalated to the point that on November 25, Xiaomi released a press statement, indicating that CEO Wang Mei deeply regretted the harm her comments caused to fans and users due to her undisciplined and erroneous remarks. She voluntarily resigned, and the company accepted her request.
Wang Mei herself also publicly apologized in her response, stating that the remarks were solely her own fault and did not represent the views and positions of the company.
“I hope everyone does not misunderstand Xiaomi,” she said.
Source: QQ