The lawsuit against the punishment was rejected in court, and a restaurant in Shanghai was fined 20000 yuan for selling "scumbag potatoes" on billboards | Potatoes | Court
To promote the dishes, a certain company used words such as "scumbag potato" on the billboards of its catering establishments. After being punished by the Market Supervision Bureau, the merchant was dissatisfied and filed a lawsuit with the Shanghai Railway Transport Court. Recently, the court ruled to dismiss the company's lawsuit request.
The court found that a certain company used words such as "scumbag man", "scumbag man potato", and "ZHANAN MEIYOU HAOXIACHANG" on the billboard of its restaurant to attract customers. The Market Supervision Bureau believes that the advertisement is suspected of illegal activities and orders the company to rectify it, with a fine of 20000 yuan.
In the trial, the company argued that the dish name matched its appearance very well, was creative, and the text on the billboard meant "eliminate scumbags". The customer's mood improved because they tasted the dish, so the advertising content advocated for good social customs and was not illegal. They requested the revocation of the penalty decision.
The court, after trial, believes that according to the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China, advertisements should be true, legal, and express their content in a healthy form, which meets the requirements of promoting the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation; Not to obstruct public order or violate good social customs.
The words such as "scumbag" on billboards are intended to attract consumer attention and promote dishes. "Scum man" is a new term that has emerged in recent years, mainly referring to men who cannot resist "temptation" and are not focused on their emotions. Naming products with this term and publicly selling them to society may lead to the spread of negative values. The advertisements used by the company, from their literal meaning, do indeed have the suspicion of sensationalism to attract attention, violate public order and good customs, contradict socialist core values, go against the promotion of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and violate legal provisions, and should be punished.
In addition, according to the Advertising Law, if an advertisement violates the above prohibition, the advertiser shall be fined between 200000 yuan and 1 million yuan. However, considering that the company involved in this case had a relatively short period of illegal time, and was able to promptly remove the controversial dish advertisement signboard, modify the dish name, truthfully state the illegal facts, and actively provide evidence materials, the Market Supervision Bureau fined him 20000 yuan, which is a significantly reduced punishment, and the discretion is appropriate.