Abstract:
Logitech has caused outrage again. Recently, an advertisement released by the official account of the Logitech G audio and video flagship store has caused heated discussions. In the advertisement, a cartoon dog looked disgusted and said "No interest, thank you" when he saw the instant discount of 100 on the GPW4 mouse. When he saw the coupon and got it at 30% off, the dog's eyes immediately lit up and he said, "You're really good at reading people!".
Article | "BUG" column Liu Lili
For a time, topics such as "Logitech is messing with users" and "Logitech advertising is accused of insulting users again" became hot searches. The comments from netizens were very sharp, "Do they never forget dogs in their publicity?" and "The publicity strategy will never be separated from the fact that male users are dogs, and they will come whenever there is a discount."
On November 2, Logitech’s major flagship stores are still live broadcasting on social platforms. On the official Douyin account of Logitech G Video Flagship Store, the advertisement has disappeared. Some consumers left a message under another product promotion video on this account, "After coupons? Then you can only buy it if you are a dog."
In this regard, the flagship store staff said, "We have launched an investigation. Thank you for your supervision and understanding. Logitech China always respects every player."
Another bizarre issue is that the IP image of the puppy used by Logitech in this advertisement was not authorized. The company that holds the copyright told the "BUG" column that the company's legal department is handling the matter and is preparing to safeguard its rights in accordance with the law.
Insulting users? Logitech is a repeat offender
This is the second time a similar incident has happened to Logitech, and the products are all GPW series.
On March 26 this year, Douyin’s “Logitech G Official Flagship Store” released a promotional video for the Logitech GPW3 mouse. At the beginning of the video, the subtitle "When you say 'I won't spend another penny'" appeared, and then a red mouse was shown with the text: "Really, when I cut the price, I ran like a dog." The content of the video was suspected of belittling and insulting consumers, triggering angry condemnation from a large number of netizens.
Under the pressure of public opinion, Logitech China issued a statement that evening, apologizing for the illegal content of the "Logitech G Official Flagship Store". The statement stated that Logitech China is sincerely shocked and saddened by the extremely inappropriate content released by the "Logitech G Official Flagship Store". We fully understand and sympathize with the disappointment and anger of every player, and we extend our most sincere apology to our users. ”
As for the cause of this incident, Logitech China said that after investigation, the illegal content was released by an individual employee of Shanghai Best Electronics Co., Ltd., skipping Logitech China's marketing material review process, and seriously violated Logitech China's brand guidelines. Logitech China will deeply review the management of the marketing behavior of authorized stores and resolutely prevent such incidents from happening again.
At that time, the "Logitech G Official Flagship Store" was operated by Shanghai Best Electronics Co., Ltd. authorized by Logitech China and was responsible for the sales of Logitech products on the Douyin channel.
The "BUG" column found that Shanghai Best Electronics Co., Ltd. is a small and micro enterprise established in 2001, mainly engaged in wholesale, and the shareholders are two natural persons. Because of this incident, Best Electronics was fined 200,000 yuan by the Shanghai Jing'an District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau in July this year.
Unexpectedly, just over 7 months after this incident, Logitech made the same mistake again in the same place. I wonder if it’s still the supplier’s fault this time?
“I said it’s okay for me to be cheap, but Logitech said no.” Regarding Logitech’s overturn again, a consumer analyzed his feelings after seeing this advertisement, “I spend money to buy your products, and you can understand my preferences, study my buying habits, and even know what I am. It’s the easiest time to be impressed by the price. But this understanding doesn’t mean you have the right to define yourself for me. I can say that I can’t help but make an order when I see a discount. You can’t stand by and laugh at me just because you understand my consumer psychology.”
This consumer made this comparison, "My friend laughed at me for buying another mouse, and the person selling the mouse laughed at me for taking the bait again. It's not the same feeling."
The IP image in the advertisement is also infringed
In fact, in addition to the alleged insult to consumers in the advertising content, Logitech has also caused another trouble.
The puppy emoticon used in the advertising video for the Logitech G Video Flagship Store is called "Big Dodong" and is a popular character in China's original IP "Siam Lipu". The IP originated in 2022 and started with emoticons, and later extended to comics, short videos and other content.
The "BUG" column contacted Xiamen Qizhongji Culture Media Co., Ltd., the copyright holder of the IP. The company's staff said that the company did not authorize Logitech and its subsidiaries to use Bigdoor for related goods delivery videos. The company's legal affairs are currently safeguarding rights on this matter.
In this regard, Beijing lawyer Liu Yabo said that "Big Duodong" is an art work protected by the Copyright Law, and Article 3, Item 4 of the Copyright Law is clearly listed as a protected work. According to Article 10 of the Copyright Law, the editing and uploading of goods-delivery videos to disseminate the image involves the scope of reproduction rights, information network dissemination rights, and the right to protect the integrity of the work. The exercise of the above rights requires explicit permission from the copyright owner. The current rights owner has clearly not authorized Logitech and its related parties to use it, and the use may involve infringement.
If the advertisement is produced and published on behalf of the operator, who will bear the responsibility? Lawyer Liu Yabo pointed out that advertising videos are usually jointly completed by brands, production companies, and agents. Using other people's works without permission constitutes joint infringement and bears joint and several liability in accordance with Article 1168 of the Civil Code. Whether the brand has the right to review the advertising scripts and materials, authorize the production, participate in unified marketing arrangements, and obtain corresponding benefits from the promotion, if so, it may be found to be joint infringement.
Lawyer Liu Yabo said that according to Article 54 of the Copyright Law, if a copyright or copyright-related rights are infringed, the infringer shall compensate the right holder based on the actual losses suffered by the right holder or the infringer's illegal gains; if the actual losses of the right holder or the illegal gains of the infringer are difficult to calculate, compensation may be based on the royalties for the right.
He said that such IP licensing has market quotations, which can be used as a reference for licensing fees, but whether it ultimately constitutes infringement still needs to be comprehensively determined based on complete evidence, authorization documents, and usage details.
The latest financial report operating cash flow fell by 6.6% year-on-year
In terms of finance, Logitech recently released its report for the first half of fiscal year 2027 (April 1, 2026 - September 30, 2026).
The financial report shows that in the first half of fiscal year 2027, Logitech’s total operating income was 24.46 billion billion US dollars (approximately 16.349 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 5%, gross profit 1.155 billion US dollars (approximately 7.72 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 16.26%, gross profit margin 47.2%, net profit attributable to the parent company 416 million US dollars (approximately 2.779 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 31.28%, but operating cash flow was 330 million US dollars (approximately 2.207 billion yuan), a year-on-year decrease 6.67%.
However, this financial report also released early warning signals for the supply chain. Affected by an accident at a semiconductor supplier's factory, Logitech expects net sales to be negatively impacted by approximately $70 million to $80 million in the third fiscal quarter, and the impact is expected to be basically eliminated in the fourth fiscal quarter. Logitech CEO has previously stated publicly that AI infrastructure demand is crowding out chip production capacity and the company is actively looking for alternative suppliers.
Industry commentator Zhang Shule believes that this incident, in a sense, reflects Logitech's own mouse anxiety and marketing madness.
"In the era of mobile Internet, the frequency and duration of mouse use have been greatly diluted. In addition, the consumption circle of e-sports mice is small. Even a big mouse like Logitech, which covers high, middle and low-end, is difficult to reverse the consumption decline. At the same time, as a very mature category of mice, it is difficult for ordinary consumers to experience differences, and some quality problems will be further amplified." Zhang Shule believes that choosing to go out of the circle in marketing may be a self-selected action by Logitech China to relieve its own "mouse anxiety".
He pointed out that this marketing overturn is very consistent with the one in March. Both described users as "dogs" and described the attraction of "price cuts" and "discounts" as "goubuli" jokes with discriminatory meanings. In a sense, this shows the "arrogance and prejudice" of Logitech, a major international brand, towards Chinese consumers. It also shows that it has not deeply reflected on its past behavior in terms of public opinion, public opinion and crisis public relations.
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