The first store of the Chagee bubble tea brand, located at the intersection of Dong Khoi and Nguyen Thiep streets (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), boasts one of the most expensive real estate locations in Vietnam. However, its use of a map depicting the illegal "cow's tongue" shape has faced a wave of consumer boycotts.
The first store of the Chagee bubble tea brand is under construction at the intersection of Dong Khoi and Nguyen Thiep streets (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) - Photo: NGOC HIEN
After Vietnamese consumers discovered that Chagee's app and maps contained the illegal nine-dash line, the brand immediately faced backlash and outrage from Vietnamese consumers.
The brand's global website still displays the map depicting the U-shaped line.
Currently, Chagee's app has been removed from the Vietnamese market on the Google Play Store and App Store. When users try to access the app, the platforms display the message "This app is not available on Google Play in your region".
However, when accessing Chagee's website, the illegal "spinster line" still appears on the store search map.
The global website of the bubble tea brand Chagee features an image depicting the illegal cow's tongue - Screenshot taken on March 16th.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese website Chagee uses Google Maps, so it doesn't display the illegal nine-dash line. Chagee Vietnam also posts job openings and lists the prices of milk tea drinks from 39,000 to 79,000 VND per cup.
On Chagee Vietnam's fanpage, Vietnamese consumers have posted thousands of comments and shares, expressing their outrage and demanding that the brand remove the illegal nine-dash line, apologize to Vietnamese consumers, and even calling for a boycott.
Despite the strong backlash from Vietnamese consumers, Chagee Vietnam's information platforms remained silent as of March 16th.
According to Tuoi Tre Online 's report on March 16th, the first store of the Chagee bubble tea brand, located at the intersection of Dong Khoi and Nguyen Thiep streets (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), is currently under construction.
Chagee bubble tea opens its first store on the expensive Dong Khoi street.
The area surrounding this bubble tea shop is enclosed by red tarpaulins, a signature color of the Chagee brand. Before Chagee leased this prime location, the site was occupied by a well-known bakery brand in Ho Chi Minh City.
According to rental data for the location where Chagee's store is located, many listings are asking for rent at 300-400 million VND/month. However, some listings are even asking nearly 1 billion VND/month for a rental area of 400m².
According to a report by Cushman & Wakefield, retail space rental prices on Dong Khoi Street reached $330/m²/month. This is the 14th most expensive rental price in the world .
In addition, Dong Khoi Street is also where most international luxury brands set up their stores when entering Vietnam.
Dong Khoi Street is a "luxury" street with some of the most expensive commercial space rentals in Vietnam - Photo: NGOC HIEN
According to real estate experts, by paying high costs to rent space in prime locations, brands can immediately reach their target customers, as there is a ready-made pool of high-end customers, a stable customer base, and a large number of international tourists…
Chagee loses favor with Vietnamese consumers.
Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online , a representative of an international beverage brand with stores throughout Vietnam (who requested anonymity) said that the fact that Chagee had not yet opened its first store in a very expensive location but faced consumer backlash due to the use of the illegal "nine-dash line" map shows that the brand had "lost 1-0" (to use a young person's expression when they fail or don't get what they wanted - PV) in its public appearance.
Construction workers are laying the groundwork inside the Chagee store on March 16th - Photo: NGOC HIEN
According to this source, negative information about Chagee and consumer attitudes have shown that Chagee has lost credibility and goodwill with consumers. Chagee's silence so far will only further frustrate consumers, putting the business at a disadvantage when opening stores.
"This is a big brand, with 5,000 stores globally. But they were careless in their approach to the market and predicted a difficult future for the brand when doing business in Vietnam," this person said.
Chacee suffered collateral damage due to consumer brand confusion.
On March 16th, the Chacee bubble tea brand issued a statement clarifying that the Chacee brand is not related to the Chacee brand. These are two different brands with no connection whatsoever. Chacee has nearly 100 stores in Vietnam.
According to the company, the Chacee brand is registered in Ho Chi Minh City and is a domestic Vietnamese brand, registered since 2019. Previously, many consumers were confused and had made negative comments and reviews about this milk tea brand on various platforms.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tra-sua-chagee-bi-tay-chay-website-van-giu-duong-luoi-bo-phi-phap-20250316184452761.htm
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