A clip of actor Simu Liu accusing a business of “cultural appropriation” for trying to turn bubble tea into a “better” product has gone viral on TikTok. And yes, by “better”, I mean they were trying to erase its very East-Asian origins while also cashing in on the trend.
This has completely taken over my FYP, and as somebody who drinks far too much bubble tea (just inject it into my veins, pls), it’s gotten me all riled up. For those of you who aren’t chronically online, let me explain what’s going on.
What happened with Simu Liu on Dragon’s Den?
Simu joined the cast of Dragon’s Den — Canada’s version of Shark Tank — as a guest investor. Basically, aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to the group, and hope to secure a deal with a Dragon. During episode three, a duo from Montreal pitched their company Bobba. Unlike fresh bubble tea you can grab from stores like Gong Cha and Cha Time, this is a pre-packaged range including bottles of bubble tea, popping boba packs and even alcoholic bubble tea.
Their pitch began with entrepreneur Jess Frenette saying, “Dragons, you have probably heard of bubble tea.” Of course, Simu tried to keep it *friendly* at this point (even though alarm bells were probably ringing), by joking about how he’d “never heard of bubble tea” — though he’d been drinking one that morning.
The pitch soon turned sour. Jess and co-owner Sebastien Fiset described bubble tea as a “trendy, sugary drink… you are never quite sure about its content,” adding that “those days are over with Bobba.” Of course, Simu disagreed, saying he was “quite sure about its content”… because it’s literally tea, sugar, milk and tapioca pearls? Like???
After tasting the samples, Simu said he thought Bobba tasted “fine”, but he had bigger worries. “I’m concerned about this idea of disrupting or disturbing bubble tea,” he told the Dragons. When fellow investor Manjit Minhas interrupted him, saying “there can be new takes on things”, Simu pushed back.
“There’s also an issue of cultural appropriation. There’s an issue of taking something that’s very distinctly Asian in its identity and quote-unquote ‘making it better’, which I have an issue with,” Simu said.
It got worse. The pair declared that their version of bubble tea was “not an ethnical product anymore. Not with the popping bobas. So we took the Asian version and we made it with fruit, with juice.”
Simu then hit the entrepreneurs with a bunch of questions, which they didn’t handle super well.
“What respect is being paid to this very Asian drink that has blown up around the world? And is it in your teas? Is it in your product development? Who is on your staff; who is on your cap table that is providing that for you?” he asked.
It turns out that Bobba gets their recipes and boba made in Taiwan, yet there’s no reference to that on any of the packaging. Simu gave another lil’ speech when he said he wouldn’t invest, and he made some other good points.
“I am studying your can, and I am looking for anything that tells me where boba came from. And where boba came from is Taiwan,” Simu said. “I started this venture company for a lot of reasons, but really, primarily to uplift minority entrepreneurs. And not only do I feel like this is not happening here, but that I would be uplifting a business that is profiting off of something that feels so dear to my cultural heritage. I want to be a part of bringing boba to the masses, but not like this. So for that reason, I’m out.”
Why is Bobba getting so much backlash on TikTok?
Bobba ended up having three Dragons make an offer and the Canadians struck a deal with Manjit Minhas. However, in this case, I reckon their bid for publicity on Dragon’s Den didn’t work out well for them.
By implying that the East-Asian version of bubble tea is “unhealthy” and saying that we are “never quite sure about its content”, it’s a textbook way to create distrust and allow white people to come in and make a cultural product “better”. It’s similar to when a white woman gentrified Mahjong tiles (a common Chinese tile-based game), sold them for an outrageous price and changed the classic designs because traditional tiles didn’t “come close to mirroring her style and personality”. Not only do these products imply that their version is better, they’re also cashing in on something tied to our culture.
Since CBC uploaded the clip showing Simu reacting to Bobba, TikTok has been filled with people dissecting the whole situation. They’re pissed at the other Dragons for not supporting Simu as well as the company Bobba themselves.
What have Simu Liu, Bobba and investor Manjit Minhas said about the situation?
Bobba made a statement on Instagram this morning, but it’s all a little too late. However, they will be making some changes to their product going forward, which is a ~step~ in the right direction.
“We want to deeply apologise for the harm we have caused by our words and actions on the show. While it was never our intention to cause harm or disrespect the community that created and popularised this beloved drink, we take full responsibility for the impact of our actions,” they wrote.
Part of Bobba’s official statement shared on Instagram. (Image: Instagram @bobbaofficiel)
The company went on to say they were never intending to call traditional bubble tea “unhealthy” or that they weren’t sure about its contents, but were instead referring to other “ready-to-drink products” found in big box stores. Bobba plans to “re-evaluate” their “branding, packaging, and marketing strategies” to represent their Taiwanese partnership and the cultural roots of bubble tea.
The Bobba owners have apparently been getting death threats, so Simu also shared both an IG Story and TikTok to urge people to tone it down.
“I’ve been made aware that the business owners have received a lot of death threats and harassment and otherwise just kind of bullying and dogpiling, and I just want to say that full stop, it’s never okay to make threats. It’s never okay to bully and harass online,” Simu said on Sunday.
“Let’s disagree with each other. Let’s critique each other. Let’s critique this idea of cultural appropriation. Let’s talk about it. But you know, what we’re not going to do is threaten people’s physical safety and make people feel unsafe and cause them trauma that, quite honestly, they don’t deserve.”
It’s kinda strange that Simu is the one having to speak up rather than the Bobba business owners, but there’s possibly more he wants to say. He liked one particular comment that read: “Very gracious of you to post this to take some heat off Manjit and the founders of Bobba but I’m curious to know if they’ve acknowledged their role in all of this and taken any accountability?”
He didn’t reply to the commenter, but I feel a “like” in social media terms is basically like dropping a bombshell. I’ll be sipping on my (bubble) tea while I wait for the next part in this saga to drop!
Lead image: CBC, Instagram @bobbaofficiel
