Chinese Internet celebrity launches controversial online course

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If a Chinese Internet celebrity assures you a 50 percent annual salary increase in the next three years by taking her online courses, will you pay for the course?

Mi Meng, a blogger followed by over 100 million users on WeChat – China’s largest social media, is undoubtedly one of the most influential Chinese Internet celebrities.

Discussing working place dilemmas, difficulties in living in big cities and publishing critical editorial based on social topics, nearly all Mi Meng’s post has over one million viewers record.

Mi Meng's Weibo Photo

However, the transition of numerous followers to a concrete profitable industry is a crucial task for each blogger in the new media era. This week, Mi Meng announced her plan to offer 15 courses to her followers but this time, the content is not free.

It is a podcast that offers 15 courses for the price of 99 yuan, named “Mi Meng helps you to get 50,000 yuan monthly pay.” The course will launch on December 1. Three lecturers deliver speeches are all from Mi Meng’s editorial team.

"I will teach the audience practical skills in working place communication, efficient way to get promotion and how to find a better job," the introduction said. "Instead of enhancing personal capacity, we will let you know the correct way to find good luck in the working environment."

Poster of Mi Meng's new course online. /Mi Meng's Weibo Photo

Mi Meng promised her audience that whoever pays for the content and does not get a 50 percent increase in their annual salary after three years will get a full refund. Netizens argued 50 percent increase in annual salary is a normal increase for most employees.

According to research company Mycos’ paper, in the 2017 Chinese University Employment report which released in this June, university graduate who started working in 2013 got their monthly payment increased by 84 percent in the past three years.

"This is a very well designed financial product," joked @Wangjia on Zhihu - the Chinese equivalent Quartz. "Mi Meng could have no interest deposit, even if everyone claims a refund in the next three years, and she could have 20 percent increase for inflation in the next three years."