Beijing Observer: A Bamboo Cicada Toy Triggers a PR Crisis for Tech Giant Huawei? Takedown of 'Wow Sounds' Backfires with Streisand Effect

From late July to early August, a traditional bamboo toy priced at just a few yuan, known as the 'bamboo cicada' (also called bamboo zither), unexpectedly sparked an online storm involving tech giants, platform censorship, and public sentiment.

This childhood toy, made of a bamboo tube, cotton string, and bamboo stick, emits a continuous 'wa-wa' sound when shaken. Netizens noticed its audio closely resembled the exaggerated, synchronized 'wow' reactions from audiences at Huawei product launches—especially following iconic statements by Huawei's Executive Director and Head of Consumer BG, Richard Yu, at events like the AITO M9 launch: 'The best SUV under ten million.'

Users quickly created a flood of derivative short videos: footage of the shaking bamboo cicada paired with captions like 'The best toy under ten million,' or directly spliced with Yu's voice and his famous 'leading by a wide margin' catchphrase. Those in the know instantly recognized the reference; others mistook it for nostalgic sharing.

Initially just niche online humor, it soon triggered a systematic response from Huawei.

Huawei's Complaint Justification: 'Allusion, association, homophones, audio manipulation' constitute reputational harm

Multiple content creators recently shared on Chinese social platforms that they received platform notifications restricting or removing their videos—even when their content merely introduced the bamboo cicada toy without directly mentioning Huawei, Richard Yu, or related products.

According to multiple leaked complaint notices, the complainant was 'Huawei Terminal Co., Ltd.,' with a uniform and stern rationale: the content 'uses implicit methods such as allusion, association, homophones, and audio manipulation to ridicule, distort, and mock the client company and its executives, deliberately creating negative public opinion. The content is identifiable enough for the public to recognize it refers to the company and its leaders, potentially lowering their social standing.' The evidence section often simply stated 'other.'

This wave of complaints targeted not only overt parody videos but also batch-removed simple toy demonstrations with no textual references. On Weibo, searching 'bamboo cicada'一度 yielded nearly blank results. On Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat Official Accounts, numerous accounts received restriction notices.

On August 2, the topic 'Is Huawei's removal of Richard Yu parody videos an overreaction?' trended on热搜. Some state-affiliated media began defending Huawei's takedown and censorship actions.

On Chinese e-commerce platforms Pinduoduo, Taobao, and JD.com, bamboo cicada sales doubled or even multiplied. Sellers began including phrases like 'leading by a wide margin' or 'swaying ahead' in product titles. Some users wore green fish-head masks (mocking Yu's nickname 'Big Mouth Yu'), changed their avatars to national flags, and continued filming. Others went directly to Huawei stores to 'stand with the bamboo cicada.'

A once-niche nostalgic toy instantly became a decentralized, participatory symbol across the internet.

A Textbook Case of the Streisand Effect: Suppression Becomes the Main Catalyst

The public's accumulated resentment toward Huawei's public image was the primary reason for the bamboo cicada's sudden popularity. As deep-dive analyses later noted: a few-yuan toy exposed a trillion-yuan company's 'can't take a joke' posture.

Huawei chose the 'cleanest' legal path—filing takedowns—over a public relations approach like self-deprecating humor. This reflects the extension of power logic, long supported by official backing, into public discourse: direct, comprehensive suppression. The public, in turn, adopted the bamboo cicada as a low-cost, low-barrier symbol of resistance. This is a classic Streisand Effect: the attempt to suppress becomes the biggest driver of information spread.

Some mainland lawyers, in interviews with domestic media, noted that even without direct naming, if the overall content has sufficient identifiability allowing the public to clearly associate it with a specific company or individual, it could theoretically constitute defamation or reputational damage. This is a platform rights-protection strategy increasingly adopted by companies in recent years.

But what truly sparked external debate was not whether companies have legal rights, but the 'scale of enforcement.'

Especially when some removed content only featured the bamboo cicada toy itself—even without using Huawei's name—many netizens began questioning whether platforms were conducting excessive moderation due to mass complaints. This turned 'what degree constitutes allusion?' into a new public discussion.

Why Is 'Wow Culture' So Meme-Prone?

Huawei's recent product launches have been famous for their highly infectious atmosphere. Whenever a new product, feature, or price is announced, the audience often erupts in synchronized, dense 'wow' sounds. Supporters argue this reflects high consumer anticipation for innovation; critics say the overly uniform reactions are easily edited and repurposed by netizens into fixed internet memes.

The bamboo cicada, producing its continuous 'wa-wa' sound, coincidentally matched the rhythm of some launch videos, allowing it to be quickly imbued with new online context.

Internet memes and corporate image are entering a new tug-of-war

In the past, companies facing negative sentiment focused on false information or infringement. Now, more often, the challenge comes from meme culture, puns, derivative videos, and even audio edits.

These contents often sit between humor and mockery, placing companies in a dilemma: if fully ignored, they risk their brand image being gradually ridiculed; if they file mass complaints, they may be seen as overreacting, drawing more attention to previously limited content.

For Huawei, what's truly worth observing is not whether it successfully removed some videos, but whether this incident made more previously unaware audiences recognize the 'bamboo cicada' precisely because of the enforcement action itself.

In the age of social media, whether a meme spreads may depend less on how funny it is, and more on whether someone tries to stop it.