The archive · Marketing & Growth · Product decision · 2019
Mayinglong, China's hemorrhoid-cream maker, launches lipstick — the absurdity sells it
A 400-year-old hemorrhoid-ointment brand enters lipstick at ¥138 and leans into the internet's disbelief — 1,218 sold on Tmall within weeks.
Mayinglong Pharmaceutical Group (马应龙)
What it had to solve
Mayinglong — famous since 1582 for eye medicine and since the 1980s for its hemorrhoid ointment — was a heritage brand whose fame itself was a joke about bottoms. Entering cosmetics let it chase young consumers, but the launch was guaranteed to be met with disbelief.
How it works
In July 2019, Mayinglong Pharmaceutical Group — the Wuhan heritage brand whose hemorrhoid ointment made it a household name — launched three lipsticks through its cosmetics unit Mayinglong Babao: crimson velvet, Champs-Élysées matte and a 'first love' moist finish, priced at ¥138 each on its Tmall flagship store.
The internet's first reaction was disbelief — 'where exactly do you apply it?' became a running joke on Weibo. Instead of ignoring it, the brand played along: its Weibo posts used wordplay ('You can't avoid using a Mayinglong product'), reassured buyers the lipstick has a normal, sweet scent rather than a medicated one, and flirted with the young audience in cyber-slang.
The tension did the marketing: by late July more than 1,218 lipsticks had sold on Tmall with mostly positive reviews, monthly flagship-store sales surpassed 900 in July, and the episode joined Luzhou Laojiao perfume and White Rabbit lip balm as a reference point for heritage-brand crossovers in China.
Why it lands
- The mismatch itself was the news: a brand synonymous with hemorrhoid cream selling lipstick is inherently funny, so every joke became free distribution.
- By answering mockery with self-aware copy, the brand converted ridicule into likeability instead of defending itself.
- It rode a real crossover wave — Forbidden City, Luzhou Laojiao and White Rabbit had already shown that incongruous products generate buzz.
- It gave young consumers a reason to talk about an old brand, making a 400-year-old name feel current without changing its core business.
What it did
The launch went viral on Weibo as netizens asked 'where do you apply it'; more than 1,218 lipsticks sold on Tmall within weeks of the July launch, China Daily reported monthly flagship-store sales above 900 in July, and the episode became a reference point for Chinese heritage-brand crossovers.
What you can take
An absurd brand-product mismatch can BE the campaign: own the joke in the brand's voice — self-aware copy turns ridicule into free media and makes the product memorable.
Since then
The lipstick was part of a broader Mayinglong shift into cosmetics and health: its 'other products' revenue reached ¥463 million (21% of total income) in 2018, and it had earlier tried digestive biscuits as a crossover. China Daily framed the launch as one of several pharma companies entering daily chemicals for new growth as drug regulation tightened. The 'hemorrhoid-cream maker sells lipstick' story remains how many young consumers first hear the Mayinglong name.
Sources
- This maker of hemorrhoid ointment is expanding into lipsticks, and it's working
- Pharma firms step into cosmetics industry
- 卖痔疮膏的马应龙出口红了! 网友: 哈哈哈涂哪 (Hemorrhoid-cream maker Mayinglong launches lipstick — netizens joke: where do you apply it?)
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