Man claims he experienced racism after being refused free bubble tea in Sydney
An man said he experienced “racism” for the first time after a promoter in Sydney, Australia, refused to give him a free Mixue bubble tea.
In a TikTok video posted on 3 Aug, the woman told him that the giveaway was “only for Chinese people”.
@millau027 Left dehydrated on the streets of Sydney
However, the promotion was later confirmed to have been organised by food delivery platform Fantuan, with free drinks available to participants who completed certain campaign requirements.
Fantuan has since denied imposing any race- or ethnicity-based restrictions, saying people from different backgrounds had received free drinks after fulfilling the promotion requirements.
Promoter asks man to speak Chinese
In the video, the white Australian man approaches a promoter giving away Mixue bubble tea and asks if he can have a free drink.
Giving him an apologetic smile, the woman responds: “No, because you are not Chinese.”
Source: @millau027 on TikTok
When the man asks how she knows he is not Chinese, the promoter appears to size him up before asking him to speak Chinese to prove that he is.
Instead, he replies with a few words in Japanese, prompting a look of surprise from the woman before their exchange ends.
“That’s what you get for supporting the Asian industry,” the man says after walking away, showing several pieces of bread he said he had bought from Breadtop, an Australian bakery chain founded by Hong Kong-born entrepreneurs.
Source: @millau027 on TikTok
“I looked at that bubble tea, I was so thirsty, and then that was my first time experiencing racism,” he added.
Netizens suggest giveaway may have been misunderstood
The video subsequently sparked debate online, with some netizens agreeing that the promoter’s remarks were discriminatory and suggesting that the man could report the incident.
Source: TikTok
Others, however, suggested that there may have been a misunderstanding over the requirements of the promotion.
In a Reddit discussion about the viral video, several users said they had received free bubble tea through similar promotions despite not being Chinese.
They claimed participants had to download an app and complete certain steps to redeem the drink.
Source: Reddit
Some netizens also criticised the man for responding to the woman in Japanese, accusing him of making a similarly racially insensitive remark.
Source: TikTok
Mixue and Fantuan respond to incident
Following the backlash, Mixue Sydney issued an apology and clarified that the woman in the video was not employed by the bubble tea chain.
According to its statement, she had been taking part in a promotional campaign organised by Fantuan, an independent third-party delivery platform, and was not acting on behalf of Mixue.
Source: @mixuesyd on Instagram
Mixue said the comments made in the video did not reflect its values, adding that it welcomes customers regardless of race, nationality, language, or background.
Although the incident did not involve its staff, the company acknowledged that its drinks had been used in the promotion and apologised for the concern caused.
Mixue Sydney also said it had immediately stopped supplying products for Fantuan promotional activities until further notice.
Fantuan, meanwhile, denied that the giveaway had been restricted by ethnicity.
The platform said the promoter’s comments did not reflect the instructions given for the campaign, adding that it had never had a policy restricting promotional items or services based on race or ethnicity.
Fantuan also said people from a range of backgrounds had received free drinks after completing the required steps for the promotion.
It acknowledged that the wording used during the exchange was “inappropriate”, and said it had since reviewed its promotional guidelines, while strengthening training and communication standards for those involved in such activities.
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Featured image adapted from @millau027 on TikTok.
