(Yicai Global) Dec. 1-- Consumer complaints over its vulgar advertisements have made Hunan province-based snack maker Juewei Food Co., Ltd. [SHA:603517] the target of an investigation by the local branch of China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce (AIC), which has pledged to disclose its investigation results soon online.

The Double 11 promotion poster Juewei Food displayed in its flagship store on the e-commerce platform Tmall on Nov. 1 involved allegedly vulgar and sexual suggestions, consumers claimed, and this sparked heated online discussions and denunciations. The company removed the poster that same day and issued a letter of apology the next, Shanghai Securities News reported today.

On Nov. 3, however, Juewei Food published another vulgar promotion on its official social media account, thus casting doubt on the sincerity of its earlier apology.

Issues of ethics aside, Juewei Food is also suspected of illegality. Advertisements may not impair public order or violate good social conventions and cannot feature obscenity, pornography, gender discrimination or other inimical content per Chinese law, as legal experts noted.

The company entrusts a third-party agency with its advertising. Juewei Food will await the outcome of the AIC investigation and will reach out to the advertising firm and re-assess its cooperation with it to avert harm to the company and its corporate culture and customers, it said in reply to the allegations.