Anger brews in Malaysia over Chinese milk tea giant Chagee’s response to ‘rigged’ contest

Chinese milk tea chain Chagee is facing the ire of Malaysians after the company urged customers to remove posts of a TikTok video appearing to show staff tampering with a lucky draw to win luxury handbags and top-end electronic products for themselves.

To commemorate its 7th anniversary last week, Chagee offered luxury handbags from Louis Vuitton and Gucci, and Apple mobile phones, laptops and tablets through ‘Tear & Win’ coupons hidden inside the company’s iconic blue and white cups.

The contest led to long queues at more than 100 Chagee outlets across Malaysia as people flocked to try their luck.

However, trouble began to brew on Monday after a TikTok video went viral showing a staff member allegedly going through the empty cups and putting aside the ones with the top prizes, leading to allegations that the contest was rigged.

X user Mimi Asmara said: “When I saw the video, I thought, ‘The staff couldn’t possibly be that stupid and risk her job.’ … this contest is rigged.”

Another user of the platform Norazlinda Abraham said: “The prizes don’t exist any more, all taken by your own staff.”