BREAKDOWNS · Agency PLAYBOOK
THE CREDENTIALS (public record): In December 2023, East Buy — the ¥10-billion-GM V live-commerce company from our earlier breakdown — nearly destroyed itself over a single social-media comment. On December 5, the company's official account replied to a fan complimenting host Dong Yuhui's scripts with 'everyone praises the little essay, but it's written by the team' — publicly deflating the star host's authorship. The fanbase revolted. Between December 11-15, East Buy's Hong Kong-listed market value dropped by over HK$3 billion (Caixin). The CEO appeared on camera, scolded viewers while putting his phone down on the table — the gesture became a meme — and was removed by December 16. On December 18, founder Michael Yu appeared with Dong Yuhui in a reconciliation stream: peak concurrent viewers of 3.888 million, over ¥100 million GMV, +2.43 million new followers in one session, and the stock jumped 21.9% the next day (Caixin, citing Chanmama third-party data). The crisis cost a CEO, a third of the company's market value, and months of brand damage. The trigger was one comment about who writes the scripts.
WHAT ACTUALLY FAILED (the mechanics): three failures stacked. First, an internal authorship dispute was conducted on a public account — the company fought its star in front of the audience that loved him, which forced viewers to pick a side, and they picked the person. Second, the CEO's on-camera response escalated instead of absorbing: he treated the fanbase's anger as a discipline problem. Third, the company's public framing ('we oppose fan-circle culture') attacked its own customers' identity — the buyers saw themselves as Dong Yuhui's supporters, and the company told them that identity was illegitimate. Every communication choice converted fans into combatants.
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