Better Offline - How A Chinese Glycine Manufacturer Went Viral ft. Louise Matsakis and Tianyu Fang

Episode Date: April 17, 2024

In the last few weeks TikTok and other social networks have been flooded with memes about a chinese glycine manufacturer called Donghua Jinlong, all thanks to one innocent promotional video. Ed Zitron is joined by journalist Louise Matsakis and writer/researcher Tianyu Fang to talk about why young people are talking about glycine. Read more of Louise's work at https://youmayalsolike.beehiiv.com/ and you can find Tianyu at https://twitter.com/tianyuf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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AllZo Media. Hello and welcome to Bearer Offline. I'm your host at Zittron. I need a saga. What's the saga? It's glycine. Industrial food-grade glycine and its associated memes. In the last few weeks, TikTok and other social networks have been flooded with memes like this.

Then she gave me some glycine and I was like, this ain't no Donghua G long? If you call this industrial strength glycine, then this glycine's got to hit the gym. You know what I'm saying? And this. Are you tired of being cucked by inferior industrial and food-grade glycine suppliers who don't adhere to FCC? E-640 USB-B-P-E-SFA production standards? Fear not Glycine Gurleys. Edge yourself down to Dongwa Jin Long.

All inspired by an innocent promotional video created by Dongwa Jin Long, a manufacturer of food-grade glycine used to improve. improve the taste of things like soy sauce and juices. Introducing Dong Hua Jin Long's food-grade glycine. Unlock Dong Hua Jean-Long's food-grade glycine in 2024. Based on my research and talking to people smarter than me, Dong Huaijin Long and the wider Chinese society doesn't really seem to understand why this is happening, nor why it's funny.

And it appears to have taken root in a combination of harmless banter, treating an extremely specific industry and its byproduct as a thing we discuss in our regular lives, and semi-ironic support of Chinese industry, just as the American government seeks to ban TikTok. So I got together with two people that have found themselves just a little too deep in this story. Joining me today to talk about this extremely strange phenomenon is the writer of You May Also Like Louise Matsakis

and writer, Tianu Fang. Thank you so much for joining me, both of you. Thanks for having us. It's great to be here. So, Louise, you've been tracking Chinese factories for several years, which is a great thing I love saying it. First of all, why? But also, what have you seen from these factories on social media?

So I would say around 2020 or 2021, I started noticing that Chinese factories were opening TikTok accounts and posting there. I don't think it's unusual that they picked TikTok. You know, they were posting on Facebook. They had a WhatsApp accounts. These are manufacturers that need to court overseas. customers and it's perfectly normal for them to have social media accounts. But I think what was happening is that a lot of them were starting to work with marketing agencies who were saying,

hey, you know, it's not a bad idea to post on this platform that's getting really popular. You know, we have a version here domestically. And they started posting these mesmerizing clips. One I think about a lot is it's gardening gloves being made. So you see these like fabric gardening gloves that are being, you know, dipped in liquefied rubber. So they get that rubber coating on the tips of the fingers. So you can, you know, dig in the dirt or whatever in your garden. They reminded me, I don't know if you guys have ever seen that show. I think it was called, like, how it's made. You know, it was a show on cable TV probably, you know, a decade, a decade and a half ago. I think it's just sort of fascinating to get a window into, you know, the world of manufacturing,

which Western consumers are so divorced from. So that's kind of like the history of this trend on TikTok. And how about Dongwa Jin Long itself? How did that manifest? So what's happened recently is that these factories have seemingly started using what I think is probably some sort of AI software, where they're translating a script and then doing some sort of like text to speech. So these videos sound really funny.

And Dong Hua Jin Long is this company that makes high quality grade glycine, which is a type of nutritional additive. And I think the name, the videos they were posting, which were sort of like these graphic edited videos of like drone footage of their factory was just really, really funny to a lot of people. You know, it was sort of this like, you know, high quality grade glycine means sort of nothing to most people. in the West. So I think it was just it was just sort of this funny moment. And I think it also ties into this existing trend on TikTok where a lot of younger users make fun of the concerns in Washington about the app being Chinese-owned. You know, I've seen people like joke about praying to Xi Jinping or, you know, like rubbing statues of Mao. And it's just a joke. But I think that it sort of ties into that as well, like this idea of it being this Chinese platform and sort of like, you know,

Western users, you know, joking on that and joking about sort of the hysteria over it in Washington. And, Tianyu, you were talking to me earlier about how, it was like 60% of glycine that comes out of China is Dongwa Jin Long, is that what is the scale of this company? What is this thing? Yeah, sure. So actually, I think the real scale is smaller than that. globally, glycine production is about, I think, 800,000 tons per year.

And Dong Hua Jin Long makes about 120,000 tons. So it's not that much, but it specializes in sort of industrial grade, right? So it's not the normal, like, food additives that we see in day of life, but sort of the kind of glycine that you use in herbicide and other forms of, sort of more industrial production and less consumer. So, yeah, the scale is pretty big. China now produces about half of global glycines in total. And previously, that was an American,

European production in the 90s, but starting the early 2000s, there was more Asia production. So Donghawah Journal is based in Kobe province, which is right outside of Beijing. That's where a lot of today's industrial-grade, high-quality glycine comes from. So does this mean it? Do you think any of this is connected to the Chinese government?

I don't mean that in a paranoid way. Is any of this deliberate, I think is the question for both of you? Yeah, I would say no in a sense that it seems just like privately owned companies. I checked the corporate records. I didn't go that deep. But, you know, it is a private company that came out of the Chinese 80s and 90s and seemed to have done pretty well. And if you look at these videos on TikTok, there's usually a version on WeChat or other Chinese platforms that's kind of similar in Chinese as opposed to English.

So I imagine these videos were originally made for people to share on Chinese social media platforms with business partners so that they can advertise their business to like business people in China who are a lot more interested in using short video apps than I think their American counterparts. So I think there's a direct translation of that intention into the American market, which I don't know if it's working as intended. Yeah. Is it very common for Chinese businesses to actually use this method, though, even these industrial ones? Yeah, I think so. I think there is a TikTok equivalent that's built inside WeChat as well. And I think because WeChat is a multi-purpose app where you use it both if you're a person who's just very online or a person who actually runs a real business.

So by being on that short video platform that Vincent has, on WeChat, you can very easily share these videos with other people for business or entertainment purposes, I like. I think what's happening here is you're seeing sort of TikTok's algorithm collide with this content that otherwise, you know, American memeers would never see. When I looked into it, I saw that Dong Hua Geelong also had a Facebook account where they actually had more followers at the time than they did on TikTok. But the thing is, with a platform like Facebook or Instagram, these people don't know what glycine is, let alone are they like searching for a manufacturer in China that specifically produces it, right?

But with TikTok, the way that the platform works is that you sort of get fed this content and you, you know, decide. whether you like it or not by, you know, paying attention, commenting, liking, sharing. And over time, the algorithm will feed you more of it, right? We all know this. And, you know, the reality is that you don't know that you might think glycine is funny. You don't know that it might be interesting to see how gardening gloves are made or whatever. So I think this is just an instance where the design of the platform meant that this sort of strange thing started bubbling up. Of course, you see this on Twitter, on YouTube, on other platforms. But I think in this case, it sort of, you know, happened to happen on TikTok.

And I think it would be a mistake to say it's just because the platform is Chinese-owned, that these Chinese factories are doing well there. Although I will say, I think maybe some of these marketing agencies and these bigger factories that are doing this themselves, maybe have more familiarity with TikTok because of Doe-in, which is the local version, also owned by Biden's. But I also think what's happening here is that you're seeing. Americans, you know, people in Europe connect to this stuff, particularly because it portrays sort of like a more camp, sort of like sillier side of China. You know, a lot of these factories are really old school.

They're maybe owned by guys who, I don't know about this case in particular, but when I've talked to these factories, they're often owned by like, you know, old school guys who are sort of products of the cultural revolution who, you know, chain smoke cigarettes and, you know, drink tea all day long. But that's not really reflective of social media in China. You know, it's very sophisticated. There's just exactly the same kinds of, you know, hot girl influencers, you know, people with hot takes on those local platforms. But I think it's not a coincidence that what's resonating is more of sort of that like old school manufacturing, maybe like more foreign, vibe than like, you know, a typical, you know, Chinese fashion influencer who also has no reason to post on a foreign platform, right? Whereas like these factories are actually looking for customers overseas. And I wouldn't be too surprised if maybe there is somebody out there

who was looking for a Glycine manufacturer and, you know, now they've found one. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guide, not quite on humor me with Robert Smygle and friends, me and hilarious guests from Jim Gaffigan to Bob Odin Kirk to David Letterman, help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. There's the worst singer in the group. The worst?

Yeah. Me. Is there anything to the idea that because you're from Harvard, you only got in because your parents made a huge donation. The group. The yard birds, right? That's the name. The Harvard yard, but they're open.

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create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right?

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Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Yeah, Tianu, have you found anything of other companies trying to do this more deliberately? Have you seen anything that suggests that? I'm not sure about on TikTok per se, because I don't follow that much glycine content on TikTok. But on Chinese platform, you know, I just got started. But I think on Chinese platforms, it's a lot more common to see the sort of stuff,

as in I do think that when I encountered this video in Chinese, I was like, oh, this makes so much more sense because people just post, I think there's a good. culture of posting a short, like two, three minute ad of their company or their factory to show sort of the working conditions of workers or the kind of products that they produce. Just a very popular thing on Chinese social media, even though it sort of caters to a particular audience that is their potential customers.

But at the same time, I think there is an increased interest, as Louis said, about Chinese factory videos on Western platforms. One guy I've been recently following is Tony from Elsie Sign. And he is a guy who works at a I think electronic sign company

like lights and billboards and he does weird English accents. Yeah, I now know who you mean. He has a peculiar accent and I say this is someone with a peculiar accent. Yeah, he does all different sorts of accents and people just love

him. And I imagine it was the same intention, but he was doing it more successfully, you know, than Glycine producers, mostly because I think more people were interested in buying billboards and posters than Lysine. Why do you think that it's so common in China to post it, like for these videos to exist? Because I can't think of an American equivalent of this. I guess you get people who like post like tractor videos and such and there is that niche thing, but almost this industrial pride doesn't seem to exist over here. Yeah, I do think that's right. I think the difference is the completeness of supply chain in China, where your target customer

is somebody who is above you in your supply chain or below you're in your supply chain, and you have so many companies, so many factories and so many workshops that, you know, are in the business of supplying to, you know, herbicide like, you know, manufacturers. So in that sense, you do have a much bigger intended audience if you're a manufacturer on one specific part of this process. So, you know, obviously China has a much larger industrial base, much larger manufacturing capacity, and a lot more small businesses that are like Donghaji Loan trying to buy products from other Donoajalos. So in that sense, it makes a lot of sense. I think another thing, too, is that there's just sort of a culture of documenting all aspects of sort of what's going on in the factory via video.

You know, a good example is it's very common in China for recruiters or for, you know, people who work at these factories to sort of take videos of like, what does the dorm look like? You know, what is the cafeteria like? What is daily life like if you work at these factories? and those videos are often designed to, you know, recruit more people to work there. But we've seen in the U.S. that if you record your life at Amazon or your life in a factory, you're probably going to get fired. And that's not to say that, you know, if you filmed stuff that was, you know, painted, painted your employer in a bad light that you wouldn't be, you know, punished for that in

China. Of course you would be. But I think there's just sort of more of a culture of documenting all this. And I think it's also a result of people being much closer to manufacturing and having a much more deep understanding of how these supply chains work. You know, everybody in China knows somebody who's involved in manufacturing in some capacity, unless like, I don't know, you're the most elite person in Beijing who, you know, only knows other intellectuals or something. You know, there's somebody in your family, a relative, a friend who is involved in this world. And so it's much more normalized, I think. whereas for Americans, it's like we had a whole TV show 15 years ago or something about how stuff was made because it was interesting to people because we didn't know because that was already an industry that was being offshoreed.

And this is not necessarily saying this kind of culture is good, but at the same time, it does feel like there's almost more connection to more blue-collar labor there. And there's not so much an obsession with, maybe I'm wrong. please correct me, if wrong, but far less of an attempt to escape those trappings. I feel like America has a degree of shame for factory work while also kind of lionizing the working class. And it's weird. It's weird watching this happen. And it's weird watching Americans kind of celebrate the glycine lords, even ironically. It's been peculiar to watch. I think actually what you're seeing in China now is exactly what you just described. having happened in the U.S., which is that there's way more college graduates now

who don't want to have sort of the same factory jobs as their parents. I think that this work is really difficult. It often doesn't pay super well. And now you're sort of seeing- It's terrible work. Yeah, but you're seeing like- It's absolutely horrible. I want to be clear about that.

For sure, but you're seeing, I think, like, this manufacturing labor pool in China starting to age, right? Like younger workers don't want to do this. anymore. And, you know, China has said, like, oh, yeah, we're having, you know, problems, sort of recruiting people to go to these factory jobs. And I think that's also because you often have to live there, which is a really big difference, right? Like, you know, no one lives on site at Amazon, I hope. Like, please, if you know about that, like get in touch. But it's a different, you know, it's an all-encompassing lifestyle where you're living on the campus, you're working,

you know, six days a week, potentially long hours. And understandably, you know, college graduates don't really want to do that. So I think you're right that historically sort of, you know, manufacturing was a huge way that China, you know, lifted a lot of people out of poverty and sort of, you know, increase its GDP very rapidly. But at the same time, you're seeing exactly what you described in the U.S. of like, this is not something that a lot of young people are excited about doing.

But it's still happening on a much bigger scale there than it is here anymore. I do think the long hours that people spend in these factories is very important in a sense that it sort of resembles this. socialist legacy where even though, you know, most of these companies are privately owned these days, you know, in these state-owned enterprises and state-owned factories in the 70s and 80s, you did live with your coworkers, you had your own houses, you went to cafeterias with your coworkers. So there was an assumption of some sort of social cohesion with your workplace outside of work itself. And this is why we're seeing a lot of people posting about their, you know,

lives in factories, also in part because they have probably very little life outside of the workplace, which could be a terrible thing in many cases because of the long working hours these days. So I do think that culture is still embedded in some types of factory work in China. Yeah, and it's the other thing is as well is that it feels like some of this is being used to kind of cover up the grocer's side, things like that they live there and that the hours are horrifying. But it's, it's in, why is it, why is it you think that they're able to show so much of the living conditions without actually coming up against the fact that you live at your job? They're how to, like, they're able to just skirt the bad parts, I guess.

And it, it, it almost feels like this whole Dong-Mong-jin-Long thing is kind of covering up parts of that, romanticizing this industry that is quite horrible. I do think it is worth sort of emphasizing the fact that these are corporate accounts, right? Like these are not workers sharing their own experiences. These are, you know, companies that are able to jump to the great firewall and are able to sort of post on foreign social media platforms because they are doing it in the name of like, you know, getting customers communicating with their.

customers advertising their business, whereas it would be riskier, right, for a, you know, individual factory worker to actually post sort of, you know, authentic content about their job and about their everyday experiences. You do see some of that, but it's much more rare. And I often find that it's people who are in like a sales job and have a little bit more cover or, you know, a little bit more familiarity with foreign platforms, maybe speak better English. So yeah, I think that's a good point. It's like, you know, I do also want to shy away, though, from the idea that every factory job in China is horrible and that it's uniquely different

from, you know, blue-collar labor in other parts of the world. Because I guess I cover, you know, fashion a lot. I cover the e-commerce industry. And time and time again, I hear people say, oh, well, I feel better about this sweater or whatever because it was made in America. And And I'm like, oh, cool. So you mean the sweatshops here in Los Angeles that are like 10 miles away? I'm not sure how that's any better right than that's the next episode of the show. Literally, that very subject. Because you've got, I think that some of that as well is Sheehan and Timu and these companies

that absolutely do and have grown off of the international terrorists, but also the kind of labor rights violations. And I know China has tried to clean up its act here. It's just tried. And I mean, tried is something that's mitigated through some degree of propaganda, as we know. But it's, I think your point is salient where it's not so much the China's doing perfect work, but that America absolutely isn't. And that conditions for blue-collar workers everywhere are pretty goddamn awful. Yeah.

And I think what I always try and say in these conversations is to like center it more on the agency of these workers. Because I think oftentimes, you know, people say, oh, I feel so bad about, like, like, you know, the stuff I bought on Sheehan, like, you know, those poor people who are being treated horribly. But that kind of becomes an abstraction. And it's like, okay, those people are just like an object of my guilt, right? Instead of like actual people with complicated lives, you know, some of whom chose these jobs, you know, perhaps because they needed the money. But but also I will push back a little bit on that or didn't have a choice. Yeah, or didn't have a choice. Yeah. Yeah. But I think like, you know, for example, if you want to talk,

about like, you know, complicated embroidery or, like, certain types of, like, intricate garment work, right? Like, that's a skill and that's a skill that, like, you know, companies can't just, like, get away with by, like, hiring nine-year-olds to do, right? Like, those are people who, you know, have dignity in their work. And I think, like, it's important, I think that's just to, like, center their humanity instead of just being, like, oh, all those people who are treated horribly. Yeah, and they're not just mindless drones. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite, unhumor me with Robert smigel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Jim Gaffigan to Bob Odenkirk, to David Letterman,

help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Who's the worst singer in the group? The worst? Yeah. Me. Is there anything to the idea that because you're from Harvard, you only got in because your parents made a huge donation.

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From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food.

Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I think there's, I mean, the state of the working conditions depends on extremely highly on the industry, depends on the specific employer. I think a lot of things are changing. And I think platforms like TikTok actually allows us to see more people posting from their own lives and not, you know, these, this kind of corporate portrayals of what the working conditions actually are. Are we seeing more of that out of China?

is there a growth of that or has the government moved against that? Because you see a decent amount of it in America but over there I don't know if that's the case. I think on the Chinese platforms this is probably true so we know like Doyen which is the TikTok, the local version of TikTok

there are also other platforms like Quichot which targets much more working class audiences and on these platforms you basically see people posting about their daily lives in a more sort of, oh, this is what I did today, right? It's complete innocuous. It's people, there's no particular intention behind what they're doing. They're just like, oh, this is what I ate and this is this is where I went after work today.

So I think there is more insight into people's daily lives from this new culture of like posting and sharing on the internet that is increasingly taking the form of like video. You know, there is a reckoning, I think, in the urban middle class that's looking at the sort of content and saying, oh, okay, this is where, this is how people in factories live and this is how they work. Even within China, I think that recognition is increasingly relevant. Is there as aggressive, so living in America, growing up in England, not really had much exposure to China at all personally. is, I hear a lot of people saying, oh, the censorship there is quite aggressive and the government will move against you for posting the wrong thing. How much truth lies in that? That's a tough one.

I think there, of course, is a lot of truth in it. I think it's completely fair to say that it's a much more censored internet ecosystem than perhaps anywhere else in the world. But I think that people assume that if you go on a Chinese social media app, it's just everybody praising Chi Jin ping and then like maybe some like, you know, benign fashion influencers. But I think it's important to emphasize that it's a very colorful, unwieldy internet, you know, of, you know, 1.4 billion people just like anywhere else. And while the government is able to sort of crack down much more quickly and, of course, you know, a lot more content is censored, there's still plenty of CD corners.

There's still plenty of, you know, shocking or strange or weird. stuff all over the Chinese internet. And a lot of these, you know, as Tiani was saying, these sort of like factory videos are really common or these videos of like sort of everyday workers talking about their life. There's actually been a trend of like farm workers. And it's funny, some of them have gotten in trouble for basically like not actually being

farmers and just sort of doing this like glamorization of like the simple life. And they're often selling like fruits and vegetables. So it's like, oh, look at my beautiful. you know, leachy farm or whatever. And I live this idyllic life here. And it's like, that's not where the leachies are actually coming from. Like that beautiful girl and that sundress is not actually the person producing them. Stealing leachy clout?

Essentially. So, you know, and I think we've seen that in the U.S. too, right? With sort of like people sort of glamorizing a simpler way of being or sort of lifestyle that maybe is appealing in some ways to the middle class. Cottage core. Yeah, cottage core. right? Exactly. It's sort of the Chinese equivalent of the cottage core trend in a lot of ways. But I do think, you know, going back to your question about, is it easier to know more now about how your stuff is manufactured?

Probably not. I think you can sort of get a glimpse of it through something like this glycine trend or whatever. But it's definitely harder to get on the ground in China. It's harder for companies to sort of do due diligence than it was a few years ago. It's more difficult to sort of audit your supply chain, figure out exactly, you know, who is the person or the company at every step, you know, before you get that T-shirt from T-Mu. But I think what this trend shows is that people want to know, right? Like, people want this information. They want to have a better understanding. I don't think people, you know, of course, there's tons of people who just don't care. But I think that more consumers than companies expect do want a better sense.

of where the stuff they buy comes from. Yeah, and you, I think a good point to start wrapping up on as well was you appear to have found an account for a dildo factory. Yes, thank you for asking. I did. It's beautiful. Yeah, it's one of these accounts, it's similar to sort of the Glyssine trend. A reader, my newsletter pointed it out to me on Twitter X, whatever you want to call it. And they make a number of stuff.

They seem to make basically these machines that, like, extrude the, like, rubbery silicon that sex dolls and dildos are made out of. So it's like this giant long machine, which, you know, edit this out if I can't say this, but they called a pussy-ass production machine. And so it's like this funnel. They, you know, squeeze out the silicone

and then you put it in these comes out hot and then you put it in these giant mold and so it's amazing this factory sort of like pans over to this giant warehouse of these butt mold essentially where the silicone

is setting and they do not seem to understand how funny this is but they're communicating with people about it What is the scuttle butt there? Like, what is the communication like? It's just like, again, it's sort of this like speech to text or text to speech software where it's like clearly like a robot saying pussy ass production machine.

And they're sort of up the supply chain. We've been injecting the botch mold. Yeah, it would be like a little bit more sort of not as funny or not as interesting if they were actually selling the sex dolls. But they're selling like these $7,000. extruders that so you can make your own at home is well I mean not unless you're a very big house I don't think yeah yeah also the minimum order is two so you know you really have to want to want to commit to this but that's what they're selling yeah and I think it's a you know perfect encapsulation of sort of like how bizarre and and silly this whole factory trend is

and think to wrap us up here Louise have you seen Dongwa Jin Long or indeed the Pussy Ass Machine vendor communicate with anyone? Are they actually involved in this at all? So it was interesting because they started going super viral during the tomb sweeping holiday in China, which is I think Tianyu can crack me. I think it's like a three or four day long holiday. And if you could just quickly explain Tianyu what that is? It's a traditional holiday for people to basically like go commemorate their

debt relatives, but, you know, it's also a several day long holiday that people just go travel and do stuff. Yeah, I think it's like Memorial Day weekend, Labor Day weekend kind of holiday. So, yeah, you know, it's the equivalent of sort of like going super viral, like, around a holiday that everyone was supposed to log off. And probably I would say that these people, like, are not actually looking at TikTok that often, right? Because this is not where they're getting like their updates from their family and friends usually. But they did seem to come back online and they commented on a few videos.

One from this user who made a number of viral videos called Microplastic Cat. So I know they commented one of Microplastic Cats' meme videos. And I think they just said something sort of generic. I get the sense that they're perhaps excited and probably whoever is doing this is like maybe I can get a raise out of this. But I don't get the sense that they fully understand.

why this is happening or, you know, what the meaning is or who all these people are posting, like, funny songs and, like, joking about, like, licey in outfits or whatever. I don't get the sense that they get it. And I think there's still sort of, like, you know, a language and cultural barrier here. But I think they like it. I think they're probably happy. I think the social media manager is, you know, probably going to do well and their boss is happy with them. I think the funniest outcome from this might be that they suddenly try and join the trend and start trying to do irony.

That would make me very happy to see them try and probably fail. But what's actually worrying me as well is that you're going to see American companies try and copy this and it's going to be very cringy. I think it would be significantly less funny because they're doing it ironically, whereas the Chinese companies are doing it with earnercy. I don't think American companies. companies will do it because like the number one thing American companies like do not want right now is to be at all associated with China in any way. That's true. So I don't think that they will do it. And I think that this level of like abstract ironic meme is probably going to like, you know, escape the Chinese factories themselves.

But that would be really funny. I would like to see, you know, a single one of them just like ask their teenage kids or whatever like what's going on here. because I do think, you know, a lot of Chinese teenagers would be like, oh, yeah, this is like a stupid meme, you know, and be able to sort of help them navigate what's going on. But for some reason, that just, like, hasn't happened yet. It's also, it's also you see these reports of Doha Jaila being mentioned in Chinese news. And people are like, why is this funny? I don't get it. Yeah, actually, how has the news covered it?

Like, how is the, like, how is the reaction from the news over there? It's just like, I've seen some stories about, oh, don't know what? This Shurzarin glycine producer is now famous on TikTok in the US. And nobody seems to understand why it's funny. And like, something is lost in translation, yeah. In my mind, the Dongwa Jinlong chemical meme is harmless, and anyone feeling synophobic indigestion or fears around Chinese propaganda needs to either touch grass or reconsider their biases.

Yeah, I kind of worry about stuff like this being baselessly used as some kind of proof that China is brainwashing young people into celebrating their industrial culture. Despite the fact that this is far more an example of great comedy being formed in real time, something that's created as a result of cultural exploration and curiosity. We should celebrate this kind of thing. It's fun that people are seeing different things and making jokes as a result. But comedy on the internet has become rather flat, boring, and frankly falsified if you've seen the Reddit Beans-Balders Gate meme going around at the moment. It's fun to watch people having fun. It's fun to watch them do something at a time when every discussion of China is extremely

serious and upsetting, and frankly, based on a level of xenophobia that's deeply worrying. Nevertheless, I've really enjoyed talking about this, and I'd like to thank Louise and Tian Yu for joining me today. Credit for the video is played at the beginning goes to Cities by Diana and Real Dan Yang, who are both on Instagram, are both hilarious. Thank you for listening to Better Offline. The editor and composer of the Better Offline theme song is Mattosowski. You can check out more of his music and audio projects at Mattosowski.com.

You can email me at Easy at Better Offline.com or check out Better Offline.com to find my newsletter and more links to this podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Better Offline is a production of Cool Zone Media. For more from Cool Zone Media, visit our website, coolzonemedia.com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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