This year’s “3.15 Gala”, a consumer rights show which aired on Chinese network CCTV on Wednesday, featured a complaint about Nike’s Zoom Air shoes that lack the “Zoom.”

In April 2016, the Weibo account of Nike Basketball released a new advertisement about sales of limited edition Kobe Bryant signature shoe Zoom Air. A customer surnamed Lang, from Nanjing in eastern China, bought two for 1,499 yuan (215 US dollars) a pair.

The Zoom Air model features a Zoom Air unit in the heel, Lunarlon foam in the midsole, and the “Zoom” delivers ultra-responsive cushioning for quick strides, according to the introduction information on the official Nike website.

After trying the shoes on, Lang was disappointed that they felt stiff. In fact, he felt pain in his feet when landing. So Lang cut the heels open - and found no “Zoom” in them.

Lang searched online and found more than 60 other consumers had similar experiences with Zoom Air shoes. 

They formed a group to defend their consumer rights, and called the Nike after-sales department for an explanation.

Ten days later, Nike China called Lang back and confirmed there was no “Zoom” in the shoe heel, and agreed to reimburse all the customers.

Soon afterwards, Lang found the introduction page on the Nike website had been shut down.

According to China’s Consumer Protection Law, a consumer should be compensated three times the price he/she paid for the product in case of any seller’s fraud.

In February 2017, Lang visited a Nike offline store, but the store manager could not explain why the Zoom Air shoes did not have “Zoom.” He suggested Lang ask the Nike China office.

Peter Zhang, an after-sales worker of Nike Sports China in Shanghai, told Lang: “It is not advertisement fraud according to our legal team. We just made some mistakes about the product description.”  

Regarding the three-times compensation, Zhang said the company could only act in accordance with Nike's policy.

It is not the first time consumers have complained about this kind of issue. In 2011, there were complaints about Nike shoes missing the “Zoom”, and the case was reported to Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce. The authority investigated the case and concluded with a fine of 4.87 million yuan (700,000 US dollars) against Nike.

The head of China’s Research Institute of Consumer Protection Law said that any internal company policy should comply with China’s state law, and Nike’s fake introduction of its product is fraud, rather than misconduct.