Key Point
Simu Liu has chosen the path of enlightenment.
Liu who appeared on an episode of the Shark Tank-style reality competition series, Dragon’s Den on CBC called out a company for inappropriate cultural representation. In a viral video clip from the series Oct. 10 episode, two owners of a Quebec-based bubble tea brand called Bobba revealed to are searching for investors for their growing business of ready-to-drink boba teas for $ 1 million.
However, things didn’t seem right after as the traditional boba tea comes in cans and bottles with tapioca balls exploding in the drink which wasn’t the case for their drink. Let’s check out the concerns the actor has raised.
Simu Liu’s concern about the Boba Tea Company
The Barbie actor said of the traditional Taiwanese drink, “I’m concerned about this idea of disturbing or disrupting bubble tea. Because it is something that’s something very near to me.”
Simu added, “There’s also an issue of cultural appropriation. There’s an issue about taking something that’s very distinctly Asian in its identity and quote-unquote making it better, which I have an issue with.”
The Marvel star went on to demand that the entrepreneurs should respect the traditional boba and asked if there were any Asian people involved in the making process.
Simu also pointed out the wrong spelling of their product, which adds an additional “b.”
However, the entrepreneurs noted that they do have Taiwanese partners who travel to the country as well. Nevertheless, the justification wasn’t enough for the actor.
“Studying the can and looking for anything that tells me where boba came from,” the actor noted. “And where boba came from is Tawain.”
Moreover, he chose not to be part of the business since he would be “uplifting a business that is profiting off something that feels dear to my cultural heritage.”
After the clip went viral Simu shared a TikTok condemning the threats made to the entrepreneurs and their women investor.
“It’s never okay to make threats,” the actor requested everyone, “It’s never okay to bully and harass. I don’t mean that the business owners don’t deserve valid criticism, and I don’t believe that you should not be vocal about your disagreement. Let’s educate people, let’s make the world a better place. Let’s make people aware that certain things aren’t okay from a cultural perspective.”
“I believe that the entrepreneurs of this business came to Dragon’s Den to pitch a business in good faith. There were a lot of things with the pitch that I took issue with, and I disagreed with. And as a result, I pulled out as a potential investor. But that doesn’t mean that I believe they deserved harassment and threats.” He added in the video clip, “I think a lot of grace should be afforded to them because they’re French-Canadian. I think their exposure to these types of cultural conversations was limited and I also feel like English was not their first language. I don’t feel like they were prepared to answer.”
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