dexinwin September 27, 2026
Photos showing advertisements for Chinese spicy snack brand Malawangzi near Milan Cathedral in Italy have sparked discussion on Chinese social media, putting the brand’s overseas marketing efforts in the spotlight.
The advertisements feature the brand’s distinctive red visual style, logo and promotional imagery. The design bears similarities to advertising previously seen in Chinese public transportation spaces.
After visitors photographed the advertisements and shared the images online, some Chinese social media users said the familiar Chinese branding felt surprisingly similar to being back in China. Others questioned whether the highly saturated red design was visually compatible with the historic surroundings of central Milan.
From Chinese subway stations to Milan
Malawangzi has developed a highly recognizable advertising identity in recent years, with bright red playing a central role in its visual branding.
Earlier this year, the company attracted online attention after placing large red advertisements in Shenzhen subway stations. The campaign generated debate over the visual impact of large, highly saturated advertisements in public spaces, and Shenzhen Metro later responded and adjusted some of the advertising.
The appearance of a similar visual style in Milan has now triggered another round of discussion.
From a marketing perspective, such consistency can strengthen brand recognition. Even in an unfamiliar overseas environment, consumers may immediately recognize a brand if its visual identity remains highly distinctive.
Why Milan Cathedral matters
Milan Cathedral is one of the Italian city’s most recognizable landmarks and sits in one of its busiest tourist areas.
That makes the appearance of a Chinese snack advertisement particularly noticeable. The contrast between the historic European surroundings and the bright red commercial imagery provided highly shareable material for social media.
However, available reports primarily establish that visitors photographed the advertisements near the cathedral. There is not enough public evidence to conclude that the entire area was covered by Malawangzi advertisements. Descriptions suggesting that the brand had “taken over Milan” should therefore be understood as social-media exaggeration rather than literal reporting.
Part of a broader Milan fashion push
The advertising attention comes against the backdrop of Malawangzi’s involvement in Milan’s fashion scene.
Earlier reports said the Chinese snack brand had been invited to participate in Milan Fashion Week 2026. Designer Na Yilin planned to draw inspiration from spicy snack products for a haute couture collection, combining elements associated with the snack with fashion design.
The Milan campaign therefore appears to be part of a broader effort to expand the brand beyond traditional snack marketing and experiment with fashion, youth culture and international exposure.
From selling products overseas to building brands overseas
For years, spicy snack products such as latiao were primarily associated with young Chinese consumers.
As more Chinese consumer brands expand internationally, the challenge is no longer simply exporting products. Companies also need to explain their cultural identity to consumers unfamiliar with the category and develop brand images that can work across different markets.
Malawangzi has also pursued other forms of youth-oriented marketing, including a recent collaboration with the Chinese animation seriesXian Ni.
The Milan campaign illustrates a broader trend: Chinese consumer companies are increasingly moving fromproduct globalization toward brand globalization.
A debate over visual impact and brand recognition
The reaction to the Milan advertisements has been mixed.
Some social media users criticized the intense red color and large-scale visual presentation, arguing that it creates a strong contrast with the historic architectural environment around Milan Cathedral.
Others viewed the same characteristic as evidence of strong brand recognition. For a Chinese consumer brand entering a competitive international market, a distinctive identity can make it easier for consumers to remember the name and product.
These reactions are primarily from social media users and should not be interpreted as representing the views of Milan residents or the Italian public as a whole.
A new question for Chinese brands going global
The discussion surrounding Malawangzi’s Milan campaign raises a broader question for Chinese companies expanding overseas: should brands preserve their original visual identities, or should they significantly adapt their presentation to local cultural and aesthetic expectations?
There is no single answer.
A strong domestic identity can help a company stand out internationally, while cultural adaptation can make the same brand easier to integrate into local markets.
For Malawangzi, the Milan appearance represents more than an advertisement for spicy snacks. It is another attempt to connect a distinctly Chinese consumer product with an international audience.
Ultimately, advertising exposure alone will not determine whether a brand succeeds overseas. Product quality, pricing, distribution, regulatory compliance and consumer acceptance will remain decisive.
But when a Chinese spicy snack brand appears near one of Europe’s best-known landmarks and becomes the subject of international-facing social-media discussion, one thing is clear:
Chinese consumer brands are increasingly taking their own visual identities onto the global stage.
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