Editor’s Note
This article examines the meteoric rise of Zhong Xue Gao, a brand that captivated consumers with premium positioning and viral marketing, only to face significant challenges shortly after its initial success. It serves as a compelling case study on the volatility of trend-driven markets.
During the 2018 “Double 11” shopping festival, Zhong Xue Gao ignited the market with a 66-yuan “Pink Diamond Powder Snow” ice cream, selling 20,000 sticks in 15 hours and instantly becoming the “Hermès of the ice cream world.” Leveraging the stories of Pink Diamond cocoa and Japanese cherry blossoms, along with its unique stick design, it transformed into a national trend pioneer, enjoying immense popularity. However, within just a few years, this once 66-yuan luxury ice cream has plummeted to 2 yuan and still struggles to sell, sparking heated discussion: Why did the “ice cream assassin” suddenly “cool off”? Behind this lies a profound shift in the consumer market, not merely a case of fading internet fame.
However, the decline of Zhong Xue Gao cannot be simply attributed to “waning internet fame.” The core issue lies in why consumers suddenly became so discerning. In recent years, people have begun questioning high-priced goods: this doesn’t taste good, that isn’t delicious, this is an “assassin,” that is an “IQ tax.” This is not a sudden whim but a fundamental change in consumer behavior. Consumers no longer blindly chase high-priced viral products but instead focus more on practical value. This awakening resembles the details of Japan’s “Lost Decade” in the 1990s: after the economic bubble burst, consumers shifted from conspicuous consumption to rational evaluation. In the Chinese market, this change is manifested as collective resistance to high-priced ice cream—consumers weren’t previously unaware of the high prices or poor taste, but rather, driven by the market environment, they suddenly “opened their eyes.” The failure of Zhong Xue Gao and other “ice cream assassins” is essentially a reflection of consumers refusing to pay for inflated narratives, marking the market’s evolution from blindly following trends to judgmental consumption.
The deeper reason for Zhong Xue Gao’s predicament is that China’s consumer market is undergoing a structural transformation from the Third Consumption Era to the Fourth Consumption Era. The Third Consumption Era, characterized by a “European and American inclination,” pursued high-end, branded, and individualistic consumption, with consumers willing to pay a premium. This was precisely the foundation for Zhong Xue Gao’s rise. However, today, the market is shifting towards the “China inclination” of the Fourth Consumption Era, emphasizing cost-effectiveness, sharing, and rational consumption. This shift is not an isolated phenomenon; high-priced internet celebrities and fancy restaurants are all fading from the public eye. Japanese author Mitsuyoshi Sasaki accurately described this pattern in “The Fourth Consumption Era”: the fourth era emphasizes Japanese simplicity and localization, which in China has evolved into “China inclination”—consumers pay more attention to the essence of products rather than marketing gimmicks. Zhong Xue Gao’s stick design and “national trade” narrative were innovative in the third era but became synonymous with “IQ tax” in the fourth. The sudden change in market winds turned the brand from a pioneer into a stagnant product.
Zhong Xue Gao’s failure also stems from strategic mistiming. The brand was founded in 2018. Although it caught the tail end of consumption upgrading, it was already nearing its conclusion, akin to “joining the Nationalist army in 1949” in internet slang. During the consumption upgrade phase, selling at a high price was attractive because high prices symbolized status; however, shortly after its establishment, the market turned towards rationalization, and the brand failed to adjust in time. Its high-price strategy—products priced above 50 yuan, with a maximum of 66 yuan—appears out of place in the Fourth Consumption Era, as consumers are no longer willing to buy for “showing off on social media.” More crucially, the brand’s reliance on narrative marketing (e.g., Pink Diamond cocoa) was seen as empty hype after consumers awakened. When the market shifted from European luxury to Chinese pragmatism, Zhong Xue Gao stubbornly adhered to its high-price strategy, akin to swimming against the tide, ultimately leading to products dropping from a 66-yuan luxury to 2 yuan with no one interested.
Zhong Xue Gao’s journey from a 66-yuan luxury to 2-yuan stagnation is a microcosm of the changing consumption era. The “cooling off” of the “ice cream assassin” is not an accidental case of fading fame but the result of consumer awakening and structural market transformation—from the conspicuous, high-end consumption of the Third Consumption Era to the rational, China-inclined Fourth Era. Brands that fail to recognize this change will ultimately be washed away by the times. The fall of Zhong Xue Gao serves as a warning: in a rapidly evolving consumer market, only by adapting to trends and returning to product essence can one avoid the fate of becoming an “assassin.”
