No way! Tao, former EXO member, announces recruitment for his sanitary napkin company, offering five times the market salary

Chinese singer and actor Tao (Huang Zitao), also known as a former member of K-pop boy band EXO, has caused a stir in China by announcing a recruitment drive for his newly launched sanitary napkin brand, offering a salary five times higher than the average salary in China.

According to media reports, on April 30, Tao's company "DUOWEI" issued a recruitment announcement, emphasizing three criteria: first, understanding of women, second, having a university degree or higher, and third, not requiring any specific major. DUOWEI is currently recruiting for various roles, including e-commerce managers, live broadcast organizers, product managers, content editors, designers, and distribution and sales managers.

Also worth noting is that the salary for distribution and sales managers is set at 30,000 yuan (about $4,000), which is equivalent to the average monthly wage in China in 2023, which is 6,050 yuan (about $800) multiplied by 5.

Tao launched the brand after expressing outrage over controversial CCTV footage showing the reuse of sanitary napkins in China. He promised to be transparent to consumers by live streaming the production process 24 hours a day and distributed 50,000 free samples during the launch.

However, some netizens criticized him for taking advantage of social issues as a marketing opportunity, as DUOWEI is not a newly established brand, but a sanitary napkin brand that has already been launched online. Netizens pointed out that some of DUOWEI's past products, including sanitary napkins and baby diapers, have been criticized for being of poor quality, raising suspicions that Tao may have purchased a troubled factory and is now restoring its reputation through over-marketing. Others noted that the process from buying the company to product development and testing was completed in less than a month, fueling even more suspicions.

Recall that Tao debuted in 2012 as a member of EXO, but left the group in 2015 after filing a lawsuit against SM Entertainment to cancel his exclusive contract. Since then, he has been fully engaged in the Chinese entertainment industry.