--- title: "Seven Years Ago, Bawang Encountered Immature Consumers; Seven Years Later, Has P&G Figured Out What to Do?" description: "P&G faces scrutiny over dioxane levels in its shampoos, reminiscent of Bawang's 2010 crisis. While P&G claims compliance with Chinese regulations, its silent response contrasts with Bawang's earlier apology, raising questions about its crisis management and consumer trust." author: "New Distribution" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2017-09-09" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/seven-years-ago-bawang-encountered-immature-consumers-seven-years-later-080651b2/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/seven-years-ago-bawang-encountered-immature-consumers-seven-years-later-080651b2.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FQMsKFYDmF50o4apDTd8FQ" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/7%E5%B9%B4%E5%89%8D-%E9%9C%B8%E7%8E%8B%E9%81%AD%E9%81%87%E4%BA%86%E6%B6%88%E8%B4%B9%E8%80%85%E7%9A%84%E4%B8%8D%E6%88%90%E7%86%9F-7%E5%B9%B4%E5%90%8E-%E5%AE%9D%E6%B4%81%E6%83%B3%E6%B8%85%E6%A5%9A%E8%AF%A5%E6%80%8E%E4%B9%88%E5%8A%9E%E4%BA%86%E5%90%97-080651b2.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/seven-years-ago-bawang-encountered-immature-consumers-seven-years-later-080651b2/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # Seven Years Ago, Bawang Encountered Immature Consumers; Seven Years Later, Has P&G Figured Out What to Do? > P&G faces scrutiny over dioxane levels in its shampoos, reminiscent of Bawang's 2010 crisis. While P&G claims compliance with Chinese regulations, its silent response contrasts with Bawang's earlier apology, raising questions about its crisis management and consumer trust. Click the image for details. "Turning a deaf ear." Text by Chuan'er and Yan Qiqi How to make headlines matters. Perhaps contrary to P&G's expectations, its original plan to disclose all fragrance ingredients of over 2,000 perfume products by 2019, leveraging product formula "transparency" to gain attention, was overshadowed by the dioxane time bomb. Back in 2010, many industry insiders witnessed Bawang's fall from its peak in an instant. Moreover, in the face of media condemnation, Bawang's attitude before the public was more sincere than P&G's "silence" over the past twenty-plus days since the dioxane incident. **1** Today, Blue Whale TMT, a media outlet under the Securities Times Financial Media Group, reported that "multiple P&G shampoos exceeded dioxane limits, and RT-Mart in Hong Kong removed and sealed them." The report, with images, quoted a cosmetics distributor saying, "To all store managers: Due to the recent shampoo test report released by the Hong Kong Consumer Council, which found multiple shampoos containing dioxane (a chemical with certain irritancy and carcinogenicity), including several P&G products that were detected and exceeded EU standards. In line with RT-Mart's consistent responsible attitude towards consumers, please immediately remove and seal the involved shampoos. (This includes promotional products.) See the attachment for the list." To further verify whether P&G's involved products were removed, and cross-referencing the list of P&G products mentioned in the Blue Whale TMT report, Qiqi visited four supermarkets in Wuhan, Hubei: RT-Mart, Carrefour, Walmart, and Auchan. Among them, the RT-Mart and Walmart stores on Jianghan Road and the Carrefour store at Hongshan Square did not remove P&G's involved products. Sales associates at all three supermarkets said, "We have not received any official notice to remove the products," but a Walmart associate said, "It seems RT-Mart temporarily removed them, but they were put back on the shelves shortly after." Top left: Carrefour Hongshan Square store; bottom left: RT-Mart Jianghan Road store; right: Walmart Jianghan Road store. At the Auchan supermarket in Qiaokou District, it was evident that the display of P&G's involved products in the hair care section was reduced: Head & Shoulders only displayed a few 380ml and 730ml men's anti-dandruff shampoo (refreshing and oil-control) and 400ml Scalp & Hair Essence; VS Sassoon's 200ml and 700ml shampoos had a larger display area, but the involved 400ml product was only one bottle; Pantene's Repair & Care conditioner and anti-dandruff shampoo were only available in a few 400ml and 750ml sizes. ▍Auchan supermarket, Qiaokou District According to a sales associate, the reduced display was "because they sold out and are temporarily out of stock." When asked about restocking, another associate said, "I heard they were removed; the exact restocking time is uncertain." **2** The second wave of fermentation from Hong Kong to the mainland originated from a report released by the Hong Kong Consumer Council on August 15. The council's test results on 60 shampoos on the market drew attention. Among them, 38 shampoos were found to contain dioxane, 12 were found to contain sensitizing preservatives MIT/CMIT, and 1 was found to contain free formaldehyde. The 38 shampoos found to contain dioxane had levels ranging from 1.1 to 24 ppm, which complied with China's "Safety and Technical Standards for Cosmetics" (2015 edition) limit of 30 ppm. However, according to the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) recommendation (dioxane levels in finished cosmetic products should be 10 ppm or below to be safe), seven products, including VS Sassoon, Pantene, and Head & Shoulders, exceeded the limit. Interestingly, P&G seemed to be asleep at the time and did not respond to the report. To this day, P&G has not issued any response through its official channels. Today, P&G's Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Wang Hong, responded to Chuan'er, saying, "The company does not actively add dioxane to its products, and we have commissioned the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine to test our shampoo products. The results show that residual dioxane impurities are all below 10 ppm." She stated that the SCCS only provides recommendations on safe levels of dioxane, which are not legally binding. All P&G shampoos tested by the Hong Kong Consumer Council fully comply with China's "Safety and Technical Standards for Cosmetics," which stipulates that dioxane in cosmetics must not exceed 30 ppm, and consumers can use its shampoos with confidence. "P&G's dioxane 'exceedance' issue is actually the same as what Bawang encountered back then," said a senior cosmetics industry insider, attributing it mainly to P&G's raw material suppliers in China, whose purification levels are not adequate. The insider's point is not without merit; P&G's control over its raw material suppliers is indeed questionable. On May 16, 2017, the environmental organization Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs released a report titled "P&G Supply Chain Pollution Survey: 'Haze Control' or 'Haze Creation'?", which pointed out that multiple P&G suppliers repeatedly violated regulations by discharging pollutants and harming the environment. Additionally, several P&G branches were criticized by the Central Environmental Protection Inspection Team. **3** "The dioxane problem is actually hard to completely avoid," said the senior cosmetics industry insider. Apart from avoiding it during raw material procurement, during actual production and processing, due to technical limitations and other factors, dioxane from raw materials can inevitably be released and remain in the products. A senior cosmetics R&D engineer shared the same view: "P&G's products are not a major problem. Demanding high standards from P&G is a moral issue and should be separated from China's regulations. Just like Bawang's highest level was only 26 ppm, which was within the limits, the same as P&G's situation." Admittedly, P&G's products do not cross the legal red line, but consumers should maintain zero tolerance for quality issues of foreign brands, just as they do for domestic brands. However, it is clear that P&G's "arrogant" attitude towards this matter is truly uncommendable. Also hit by dioxane, Wan Yuhua, known as the "Godmother of Bawang," expressed her guilt with tears in the face of criticism, while P&G, over the past twenty-plus days, seems to have been busy reporting media outlets that paid attention to this issue. Obviously, it is not that P&G lacks crisis awareness or does not care about public opinion. Rather, it shows that P&G's massive internal system has become rigid, still intoxicated with its "century-old epic," and unable to muster the courage to revolutionize itself. It can be said that public concern is not deliberately "defaming" a particular brand. For the industry, while reflecting on the "Bawang injustice," there is hope that P&G will not repeat the same mistake. Similarly, should P&G, which plays "double standards" between China and abroad, also ponder: Can "big stores" bully customers? Remember, you are no longer facing the Chinese market of 30 years ago. Source: Qingyan (ID: qingyanwh) Click the image for details. The 3rd (CFIC) China FMCG + Internet Conference will be held in Chongqing in October 2017. The conference will closely focus on the theme "New Forces, New Ecology," inviting 1,000+ distributors, 500+ brand owners, 200+ B2B platform founders, and 100+ investment and financing institutions to explore new chapters of cross-border integration! **Core topics of this conference:** > * How can the FMCG industry leverage B2B to achieve new growth opportunities? > > > > > > > * How should the new supply chain behind new retail be built? > > > > > > > * How can intra-city logistics help B2B achieve leapfrog development? > **Highlights of this conference:** > * The industry's first "2017 China FMCG B2B Industry Competitiveness White Paper" > > > > > * Case sharing of excellent distributors' transformation and upgrading > > > > > * Upgraded conference and exhibition: Hall 6 Internet Technology Exhibition strengthens networking > > > * Leaders from well-known enterprises such as Alibaba Retail Link, Puhua Finance, Eternal Asia Supply Chain, Best Store Plus, Yijiupi, Unilever, Haiding Technology, and Yunmei Shares will deliver speeches and share pioneering views. > > October 17-18, 2017 Chongqing International Expo Center Registration is now open. Long press the QR code below or click "Read Original" to register. Early bird tickets before September 15 enjoy a 30% discount! Add friend and note "Conference Registration" Click the links below to review the highlights of the first and second FMCG + Internet conferences: 2016 "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum 2017 (2nd) China FMCG + Internet Conference Click the links below to review the highlights of the first and second FMCG + Internet conferences: [2016 "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum]() -END- --- ## Copyright and AI use This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL. Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671