The company behind "healthier boba" is ... doing less than great right now

[therearewords]

Simu Liu Accuses Boba Brand of ‘Culture Appropriation’ in Viral Dragons' Den Clip - Then $1M Investment Is Pulled https://t.co/WTzbP51pvY
- People (@people) October 17, 2024

- In case you missed what this is the follow-up to- Bobba’s Instagram page posted a statement on Oct. 14 and apologized for the controversial business pitch. The six-part

Comments

[eronanke]

Whatever I may think of appropriation in this context, the way the presenters and other dragons reacted was rude.

If you need money, and someone who could give you a million dollars raises a concern, no matter how minor, you at least respond in a way that validates.

[silverstarry]

One of the worst parts of their "apology" was claiming that they were silent for several days because they had to do their due diligence. If they had done that BEFORE launching a boba company then maybe none of this would have happened.

To be honest, I don't expect them to change/improve anything. They're probably just going to wait for the controversy on social media to die down and then go about their merry way selling their product. That's exactly what the white ladies did who got caught in a PR storm a few years ago for selling mahjong sets that they felt needed to be "refreshed" to "reflect their personal style." They too issued an apology saying that they had failed to pay proper homage to the game's Chinese heritage and that they never intended to "ignore or misrepresent" the game's origins. They claimed that going forward, they wanted to be as "respectful and authentic" about the game as possible. Fast forward to 2024 and there is one page on their entire website that even mentions the word "Chinese," and it doesn't actually

[yurasama_love]

Blueberry congee?! Gross

[sunsetburgundy]

[iznanassi]

...what about congee is intimidating? it's basically savoury rice pudding

[ivn]

Fuck the Bobba entrepreneurs and those other judges. This happens far too often than people think. Racists, especially whites, feel very comfortable shitting on foods of other cultures and guise it as simply as food preference. I once posted a photo of a cultural delicacy here in ONTD and the way people quickly reacted with “vomit” emojis is quite appalling-and ONTD is supposedly progressive. This happens all the time and people think nothing of it. Good on Simu for setting off this important discussion. I don’t like the guy but I can respect him for that.

[silverstarry]

Agreed on all counts.

Although David Chang has been problematic, I appreciated that he named one of his shows Ugly Delicious specifically to illustrate that just because something isn't what people consider Instagrammable or fancy looking, it still tastes good.

People can be so judgmental about food that doesn't look pretty (and of course they will buy/eat/post about food that doesn't taste good but looks cute). A lot of things that are considered mainstream foods don't look good but people are so used to the way they look that they eat them anyway. You can't tell me that tuna casserole is visually appealing but people have been eating it for decades! And hot dogs look ridiculous but people still eat them.

[aleksie]

I like when he exposed the people who claimed to be allergic to MSG.

[blazingeternity]

Eating Learning about different foods of the world is my passion, so I must ask what was the cultural delicacy you posted?

And I agree, (white) people who immediately trash and insult dishes unknown to them are one of my pet peeves. It's okay to feel squeamish about something, it's also okay to not want to try it, but be self-aware enough to know it's because of your personal preferences and your cultural/geographic background. I'll forever hate that one guy I unfortunately had to travel with once, who was non-stop making disgusted faces and rude remarks at literally every local food and would say things like "How can they eat that / Something is wrong with people here / *** clearly did not invade this country for the food etc" in public.

[sjazzmreow]

Minhas shared... "after more reflection, due diligence and listening to many of your opinions I will not be investing in Bobba Tea."

I mean, you could have just taken seriously the concerns raised by the person sitting a couple of metres from you when you initially agreed to invest, but whatever.

[ty]

AGREED. She laughed at him

[silverstarry]

She talked over him, dismissed his concerns, and argued with him instead of listening to him so her post just got a big eyeroll from me. We all know she only decided to withdraw because she doesn’t want to be associated with this controversial mess, not because she actually had a change of heart and decided to respectfully acknowledge Simu’s very valid issues.

[shiroi_yuffie]

As someone from Quebec this is so embarrassing but I'm happy that a lot of people in Montreal has taken the occasion to support Asian owned bubble tea places in protest. It also opened the conversation on cultural appropriation which is not discussed here as much as it's talked about in the US or English parts of Canada.

[littlebones]

like what gap in the market were they hoping to fill? you can get pre-made boba everywhere already, including in quebec city.

i've had boba like 4 times since the clip went viral lol i need to make sure that the shop down the street stays open bc they're always kinda dead.

[mistycreed]

right!? like, i don't even live in a big city (i live in the US), and there's 2 places year round that serve both types of boba and 1 place that is only open during the summer. we can also buy pre-made boba because my library has done it as a program for teens.

boba is readily available in many places. they've invented nothing new.

[vanilla_09]

And like as a Montrealer, are we really lacking boba places? Aint nobody buying that pre-made shit when we can literally just go buy some at several locations.