Laoxiangji announced its national expansion with a 200-yuan launch and 140M views

In February 2020, with COVID shutting over 400 of its stores and an estimated ¥500 million in losses, Laoxiangji's chairman Shu Congxuan appeared on camera tearing up a staff petition to take pay cuts — 'even if I have to sell my house and my car, I'll make sure you have food and work.' The clip went viral. In March came the 'national strategy launch' on a village stage costing 200 yuan: red-brick walls, a cloth-draped table, the chairman holding an old hen while announcing ¥1 billion in credit and investment, 1,000 stores within the year, 5,000 hires (Sina).

The cleverness is that the smallness was the campaign. A restaurant born as 'Feixi Old Hen' in Hefei in 2003 — rebranded Laoxiangji in 2012, already 800+ stores and #1 among Chinese fast-food chains in the 2018 China Cuisine Association list — had a founder whose rustic persona was verifiably true. The launch drew an estimated 140 million cumulative views (Jiemian), and the register held: for its 20th anniversary in October 2023 the chain gave away free chicken nationwide, and when its no-takeaway rule annoyed guests, the chairman apologized personally — even the stumble became content.

The attention funded a real expansion run: by the Hong Kong listing application filed January 3, 2025 (joint sponsors CICC and Haitong International), Laoxiangji ran 1,404 stores across 53 cities in nine provinces — 949 directly operated and 455 franchised — with an average ticket around ¥30 (Sina).

The same arc then exposed the limits: as of mid-2026 the company had sought listing five times in five years (twice A-share, three times Hong Kong) without success. Revenue growth decelerated from 58.4% in 2022 to 11.3% in 2024 (¥4.53bn → ¥6.29bn), gross margin sat near 23% against a 60%-plus industry norm, and franchisees — 44% of stores — contributed only 20.6% of revenue. Trending comments now read 'small portions, pricey, not tasty' (21 Finance).

Make the tiny budget the story, not the staging

The founder's persona was true before it was content — a chicken farmer turned chairman from rural Anhui — so the lo-fi register read as identity, not affectation.

A 200-yuan budget is itself a news hook: every outlet reporting the launch reported the budget, multiplying reach the money could never have bought.

Crisis candor (tearing up the pay-cut letter) converted a liability — closed stores, losses — into trust at exactly the moment employees and customers were watching.

Repeatable format: each anniversary or announcement re-arms the same character and the same rustic stage, so the media buy stays at zero.

The audience becomes the defense: when critics nitpick, fans argue back — a community effect Jiemian compares to the uncopyable Haidilao service culture.

When you cannot outspend, make the smallness itself the hook — a real person, real constraints, real stakes. But authenticity only buys attention; unit economics decide if it compounds.

Laoxiangji withdrew its A-share application in August 2023, filed for a Hong Kong listing on January 3, 2025, and by July 2026 remained unlisted after five attempts in five years. Growth and margins decelerated while the franchise mix expanded faster than its economics — 44% of stores, 20.6% of revenue — and public sentiment shifted from endearment toward complaints about price and portion size. The brand machine still works; the question the market keeps asking is whether the kitchen behind it does.