Chinese Malls Offer Milk Tea for Mosquitoes in Viral Summer Promotion

Ten mosquitoes for a cup of milk tea. Dead or alive, they all count.

That was the offer that helped several shopping malls in Jiangsu Province go viral this week, as summer heat and mosquito season turned into an unlikely marketing campaign.

The promotion asked shoppers to catch mosquitoes and bring them to participating malls in exchange for small rewards. At some locations, three mosquitoes could be exchanged for ice cream, five for a water gun and 10 for a branded milk tea voucher, according to Yangtze Evening News.

Staff at Binhai Wuyue Plaza in Yancheng confirmed to Jimu News that the mall had launched a mosquito-for-milk-tea activity. At Haizhou Wuyue Plaza in Lianyungang, staff said the event began on July 16 and did not restrict where the mosquitoes were caught. Participants who collected 10 mosquitoes could bring them to the site for a milk tea coupon while supplies lasted.

The Lianyungang event had already ended. A worker at a participating milk tea store said the mall's vouchers had been handed out, and each could be used to claim a new drink priced at 23 yuan (US$3.20).

In Suqian, Sucheng Wuyue Plaza also promoted a similar event, saying it was the mall's first time running the activity and that many customers had called to ask about details. A large mall screen advertised the playful rules with the slogan that mosquitoes could be exchanged whether they were dead or alive.

The idea quickly spread on Chinese social media, where users joked that mosquitoes had suddenly become valuable. Some said the campaign was funny and practical because it encouraged people to kill mosquitoes during peak season. Others dismissed it as a gimmick, saying catching 10 mosquitoes was more trouble than simply buying a cup of tea.

The promotion also raised public health concerns. Some online users questioned whether carrying live mosquitoes into a shopping mall could create hygiene risks if the insects escaped.

A staff member from the Nanjing Center for Disease Control and Prevention told Yangtze Evening News that mosquitoes can transmit diseases such as dengue fever and malaria, and that catching and carrying live mosquitoes can carry health risks.