China snack brand criticised for making staff change surname to ‘rat’, call customers ‘master’
Employees refer to themselves as vermin responsible for shipping, customer service; naming culture seen as painting staff in ‘cute’ light
A popular Chinese snack brand has ignited online controversy after netizens revealed that its employees have to change their surnames to “rat” and refer to customers as “master”.
Recently, a mainland netizen posted online claiming that “after joining Three Squirrels, you lose your real name”.
Photographs from an internal meeting showed nameplates such as Shu Laodie, meaning “Rat Dad”, and Shu Laomu, meaning “Rat Mum”.
Three Squirrels, which was founded in 2012 in Anhui province, central China, is a well-known snack brand famous for its nuts and dried fruit.
The company went public in 2019 and has racked up more than 54 billion yuan (US$7.6 billion) in cumulative sales over the past decade.
The post also included a photograph of the company’s Communist Party Committee list, showing 30 members across eight branches, with every single one’s name starting with “Rat”.
“There is even a deputy secretary called Shu Dandan, or Rat’s Egg. So hilarious,” the netizen joked.