DQ hits sticky situation over ice cream promotion

A Shanghai branch of Dairy Queen, a popular American fast-food chain, has been fined and ordered to rectify irregularities over fake or misleading promotion, according to an administrative penalty notice issued by market regulators recently.

The company was found promoting "DQ" ice-cream and mousse cakes of flavors such as white peach oolong, chocolate, and tiramisu in group buying orders on its WeChat and Weibo accounts, while, in fact, the ice cream and cakes were not produced by the company itself, officials found.

However, Dairy Queen failed to prominently mark the producer in its promotion articles and posters, according to the Fengxian District Administration for Market Regulation.

The act misled consumers and infringed their legal rights and interests, the administration from the suburban district said.

As a result, the company was fined 35,000 yuan (US$5,026), based on China's consumer rights protection law.