Canadian entertainment network CBC has a Shark Tank–like show called Dragons’ Den, where investors hear pitches from businesses looking for funding. This season, Chinese-Canadian actor Simu Liu—who starred in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings—was a guest “dragon” and prospective investor on an episode.
The owners of a Quebec-based bubble tea company called Bobba came to Dragons’ Den on this episode, seeking a $1 million investment to grow their brand. As they pitched, the tension between Simu Liu and Bobba founders Sebastien Fiset and Jess Frenette became apparent.
Boba tea is a Taiwanese tea drink that has recently risen in popularity in the United States. However, Frenette described boba, or bubble tea, as a “trendy, sugary drink” and suggested that consumers are “never quite sure about its contents.”
Liu took issue with the founders’ plan to “disrupt” the market with their product and raised questions concerning the company’s supposed cultural appropriation. The resulting clips from this Dragons’ Den episode have gone viral, with millions of views on social media. The actor has since issued a public statement about the controversy.
Ultimately, Liu decided not to invest in Bobba, saying that he “would be uplifting a business that is profiting off of something that feels so dear to my cultural heritage. I want to be a part of bringing boba to the masses—but not like this.”
This controversy highlights how important it is for businesses to be culturally sensitive and the effects they can have when they aren’t.
Here are four ways you can determine whether your business is culturally sensitive and how you can make it inclusive, especially with the holiday season approaching.
1. Think things through to avoid unintentional cultural appropriation
Liu’s boba tea controversy isn’t the only culturally insensitive incident to have gone viral. In 2022, Bath and Body Works attempted to honor Juneteenth with its product packaging for Black History Month in a way that was not well-thought-out. According to the Miami Herald, consumers criticized its products as “’trash,’ ’tacky’ and [an] example of ’culture appropriation.’”
Katya Varbanova, a brand marketing expert, argues that understanding cultural sensitivity should be the bare minimum for businesses.
“I think the biggest lesson that we can take away from this is… understanding culture, especially Zillennial culture… and this new generation of what expectations they have from brands,” she says. “[Businesses] need to understand that it is the bare minimum to understand what is culturally relevant, what is culturally sensitive, and the topic of cultural appropriation has been a topic that Gen Z and Millennials have been incredibly passionate about.”
Varbanova also notes that brands and entrepreneurs need to get feedback early on—not just from within their company but also from their local area and global customers.
2. Research relevant cultural history and educate yourself when creating
How can companies and brands respectfully honor various traditions and celebrations? The best way to ensure that your business is culturally sensitive is to start your product creation process, marketing, customer and employee communication, and branding from a place of deep research.
You can’t be culturally sensitive if you don’t understand culture-specific history. Even when creating content, you should know the context and significance of any cultural phenomenon before you create and communicate.
As a result, you should form a research process that involves examining history and important culture-specific information. Educate yourself on things you may not know about your content’s topic if it involves other cultures. You can use AI tools such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini to compile the information to make it easier to understand.
“I think one of the most important things for business owners to remember is that, as people, we all make judgments very quickly about whether we want to do business with someone else,” says Afya Evans, an image consultant who does executive coaching for high-level, media-facing professionals. “We’ve all heard that people do business with people that they know, like and trust. But the science tells us that… most of us make those decisions within seconds.
“And so, what’s important is to make those very first impressions to stick because it’s very hard to change,” she adds. ”And so those very first encounters are very important.”
3. Communicate with cultural sensitivity and celebrate cultural diversity
A business communicates with employees, customers, investors and key stakeholders in multiple ways, which all affect the brand’s growth. As we saw with Bobba on Dragons’ Den, a lack of culturally sensitive communication can sink a business—but communicating with cultural sensitivity creates a business that employees want to work for and consumers want to do business with.
Employees and consumers also want to see themselves represented in a brand. 2019 data from Google showed that 70% of surveyed Black and LGBTQ+ consumers were more likely to interact with brands whose advertising represented their identities. Two out of three Americans also said their social values shaped their shopping choices, according to a 2021 McKinsey study.
“Cultural insensitivity can hurt the brand… but [it] also can hurt the company with attracting and retaining talent,” says Vivian Acquah, a certified diversity, equity and inclusion consultant and trainer. “[Its] client base can [also] feel like they are not gonna buy any more products from you…. The lack of sensitivity can harm the businesses… at a bigger pace as well.”
With the holidays fast approaching, this is the time to ensure that your communication is culturally sensitive and celebrates cultural diversity, as there are celebrations and traditions beyond typical American holidays. Consider religions, people groups and cultural holidays when creating content for your business.
Good communication involves being clear but also engaging in active listening. As you research and create, avoid stereotypes and try not to make assumptions about anyone or anything if you don’t know their cultural background. You should also be open to feedback from employees, consumers and others that brings to light any cultural insensitivity.
4. Build an inclusive business
One of the best ways to ensure that you’re building a culturally sensitive business is to keep inclusivity in mind. In the previously mentioned episode of Dragons’ Den, Liu asked the Bobba tea company, “What respect is being paid to this very Asian drink that has blown up around the world? Is it in your teas? Is it in your product development? Who is on your staff? Who is on your cap table that is providing that for you?”
Inclusive businesses are built using diverse communication, teams, branding and marketing, as well as the ability to adjust when an issue arises. Being a culturally sensitive business is a growth strategy that improves employee retention and engages consumers because they feel represented.
Is your business culturally sensitive?
Asian entrepreneurs Olivia Chen and Pauline Ang are friends and business partners who own a boba tea brand called Twrl. They tried three times to get on ABC’s Shark Tank but couldn’t. After they posted a video on TikTok in support of Liu’s callout of cultural appropriation, Liu invited them to send his team a pitch deck so he could invest in Twrl.
The Simu Liu boba tea controversy teaches us that building a culturally sensitive business matters, and it will affect a business’s growth when you don’t. You can create a culturally sensitive and representative business by researching other cultures, creating with inclusivity and thinking things through.
Photo courtesy of Yuri A/Shutterstock.com
