Photo: Weibo

A collagen drink advertisement of the "Five Doctors" brand recently sparked strong criticism from media and netizens for undermining women's roles and is currently the target of an investigation by Beijing's supervision body.

In the video ad, the five women, with fierce expressions on their faces, hold their fists high while loudly shouting phrases such as "My husband makes me mad, so I'll drink this!" "I will be a year older soon, so I'll drink this!" and "You all forced me to drink this!"

According to the Chinese commercial query platform tianyancha.com, the "Five Doctors" brand belongs to Beijing Qingyan Boshi Health Care Management Co Ltd, which was founded by five female PhDs in 2019. The company provides health care consulting, elderly care and nursing services.

Netizens expressed their frustration online, saying the ad from the company has not only defamed the company founders' degrees, which are very much respected in China, but also the image of Chinese women, who do not like to be stereotyped. 

"The five PhDs took advantage of women's anxiety about their age and appearance to peddle fake medicine," a netizen wrote. 

The flagship newspaper of the All-China Women's Federation, China Women's News, criticized the ad, saying it was trying to woo the general public with "claptrap."

"With China's improving social values, Chinese women have become more sensitive about products related to their identities," said China's Women News. 

"Instead of paying the most attention to their appearance, they focus on showing their abilities and career achievements." 

The company's product has not been registered as a health food, meaning the seller could be committing false advertising­, according to a report from Chinese digital news platform The Paper. 

If the ad is found to be insulting or discriminating against women, the companies involved could be fined as much as 1 million yuan ($143,713), according to a law firm.