China snack brand criticised for making staff change surname to ‘rat’, call customers ‘master’

A popular Chinese snack brand has ignited online controversy after netizens revealed that its employees have to change their surnames to “rat” and refer to customers as “master”.\nRecently, a mainland netizen posted online claiming that “after joining Three Squirrels, you lose your real name”.\nPhotographs from an internal meeting showed nameplates such as Shu Laodie, meaning “Rat Dad”, and Shu Laomu, meaning “Rat Mum”.\n\nThree Squirrels, which was founded in 2012 in Anhui province, central China, is a well-known snack brand famous for its nuts and dried fruit.\nThe company went public in 2019 and has racked up more than 54 billion yuan (US$7.6 billion) in cumulative sales over the past decade.\nThe post also included a photograph of the company’s Communist Party Committee list, showing 30 members across eight branches, with every single one’s name starting with “Rat”.\n\n“There is even a deputy secretary called Shu Dandan, or Rat’s Egg. So hilarious,” the netizen joked.\nOn January 24, a member of staff from the company confirmed to Hubei Media Group that changing employees’ surnames to “rat” is indeed part of Three Squirrels’ internal culture.\n“It is a way of making things feel more friendly and cute, while also reinforcing our brand identity,” the member of staff said.\n“It is not mandatory. When new employees join, someone simply tells them that it is common practice. If they are comfortable with it, fine. If not, there are no consequences,” the staff member added.\n\nIt is not the first time Three Squirrels’ internal naming culture has drawn public attention.\nIn mid-November, a customer shared online that in their dealings with the brand they discovered that an employee responsible for returns was labelled as “Return Rat”.\nThe customer also noticed that all of the company’s online customer service representatives referred to themselves as “rats” and addressed customers as “master”.\nThe company explained that staff also call themselves “shipping rat” and “customer service rat” and that “return rat” was not intended to insult consumers.\nYang Min, a lawyer at Hubei Chisheng Law Firm, said that many companies adopt playful nicknames to strengthen corporate identity.\n“There’s nothing illegal about using nicknames with the word ‘rat’ as long as employees are not forced to adopt them and their rights to personal identity and dignity are not infringed,” said Yang.\n\nThe naming practice has sparked controversy and divided opinion online.\nOne person said: “Although Three Squirrels’ mascot is quite cute, using ‘rat’ nicknames for real people feels absurd.”\n“This kind of so-called corporate culture can be quite off-putting. Having employees change their names and call customers ‘master’ borders on psychological manipulation,” said another.\nWhile a third said: “As long as it is optional, it is OK. Kind of like choosing an English name in language class.”\n