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Journalism of Courage
Two boys aged 17 created a stir in China after a video of them urinating in a hotpot at the biggest hotpot chain, Haidilao, emerged on social media. Hotpot is a communal dining experience where diners cook in a simmering pot at a table.
The viral video shows one of them on the hotpot table, urinating into the broth while dining in a private room. The boy filming the incident can be heard laughing. Although the incident occurred in late February, it was not until the video recently went viral that the restaurant’s management became aware of the situation. The footage quickly spread across social media platforms, drawing widespread attention and outrage.
After the backlash on social media, Haidilao apologised to its customers, offering compensation to at least 4,000 guests who dined at the restaurant from February 24 to March 8, followed by cash compensation 10 times the amount they were billed.
“We fully understand that the distress caused to our customers by this incident cannot be fully compensated for by any means, but we will do our utmost to take responsibility,” the company said in a statement, BBC reported.
According to the South China Morning Post, the restaurant initially did not take action to “give the minors an opportunity to learn from their mistakes.” However, the management changed its decision after the outrage on social media. They filed a police complaint in Jianyang, Sichuan, where the franchise is headquartered, and the teens were detained.
The restaurant further replaced all hotpot equipment and dining utensils and disinfected other crockery. Diners in Haidilao use their personal hotpot equipment to cook their food, and broths are not re-used again for other guests, BBC reported.
