With her outstanding sports achievements and innocent affinity, Quan Hongchan has formed a unique “magic of bringing goods”. From ugly fish slippers on the sidelines to dolls and mobile phone cases shared in daily life, she inadvertently brought a variety of products to the fire, triggering a rush to buy.
Recently, with the start of the 2025 Diving World Cup in Windsor, Canada, Quan Hongchan has returned to the public eye again, and her performance on and off the field has attracted much attention. Just recently, she posted a number of Wakuku plush dolls sent by Yu Shuxin, wearing “Super Mario” Red Riding Hood and two customized mobile phone cases, which instantly triggered the “fryer” in the comment area, and netizens begged for the same style and aroused their enthusiasm for buying.
In fact, this slightly shy diving genius with an innocent smile, his ability to bring goods has long surpassed people’s general cognition, forming a unique “Quan Hongchan phenomenon”. She is not an anchor or traffic star in the traditional sense, but she can always inadvertently make certain products explode overnight.
01 What good things have Quan Hongchan accidentally brought to the fire?
Since winning gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Quan Hongchan has won attention at home and abroad with her perfect splash and innocent smile, and has become the youth idol of the Chinese diving team at the age of 17. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, she once again won two gold medals in the women’s double and single 10m platform vaults, consolidating her status as the “gold medalist” in Chinese sports.
Unlike many high-profile sports stars who have signed many brands, Quan Hongchan’s public formal commercial cooperation brands are relatively limited, mainly including Yili, Blue Moon, Natural Hall, etc. However, this did not limit her strong market influence.
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More often, it is her personal belongings that she inadvertently displays or mentions on the sidelines, in training, or in daily life, which unexpectedly set off waves of consumption boom and become a veritable “explosive manufacturing machine”.
Before and after the women’s double 10-meter platform final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, a pair of uniquely shaped and brightly colored ugly fish slippers worn on Quan Hongchan’s feet were captured by keen media lenses and quickly became the focus of heated discussions on the Internet. Topics such as Quan Hongchan’s same ugly fish slippers quickly appeared on the hot searches of major platforms.
According to Taobao data, the same slippers she wore topped the hot search list 7 times in a short period of time, and the popularity of a single search increased by an astonishing 1396% month-on-month. After the game, the popularity of related Weibo topics reached 6.878 million. The slippers, which originally sold only a few pairs per day on the e-commerce platform, surged to hundreds of pairs per day after Quan Hongchan “brought goods”, an increase of more than 10 times.
The little turtle seems to be Quan Hongchan’s favorite element. After the Paris Olympics, Quan Hongchan posted the colorful resin “Turtle Matching” blind box toy she bought on Douyin, which once again triggered a rush to buy. This cute and interactive little toy quickly became a new “Internet celebrity”.
According to reports, in order to meet the blowout market demand, many toy manufacturers in Yiwu have to rush production 24 hours a day, even if the daily output is as high as 50,000 to 100,000 pieces, it is still in short supply. The live broadcast room of related toys has also skyrocketed in popularity, setting a record of 100,000 yuan in sales per day and 1,000 orders per day.
On April 17, 2024, Quan Hongchan shared a set of daily updates containing six photos on social platforms, in which she was holding a variety of soft and cute Wakuku dolls in purple, orange, blue-gray, brown, etc., with the text “super good-looking”. This seemingly simple sharing instantly detonated the comment area, and the enthusiasm of fans was completely ignited, “I want the same style as my sister!” “, “It’s so cute, I want to buy it when I look at it” and other comments swipe the screen.
The search volume of related Wakuku dolls and the number of visits to the delivery page have increased dozens of times in just 24 hours, once again proving that Quan Hongchan can drive a consumer trend by simply sharing her personal preferences.
Shortly after finishing the competition at the Diving World Cup in Windsor, Canada, Quan Hongchan posted a set of 18 photos on social media, in which she wore a classic red Super Mario hat and made various playful and cute expressions to the camera, showing the innocence of a girl. This set of photos quickly appeared on the hot search lists of Weibo, Douyin and other platforms, and the number of views on related topics easily exceeded 10 million. Netizens were melted by her cute appearance, calling it “cute”, and began to look around for the same Mario hat.
In the same set of photos, Quan Hongchan also inadvertently showed off two of her customized phone cases: one was a little turtle singing with a microphone on a white background, and the other was a big crocodile holding an earpiece on a black background and talking on the phone (which was interpreted by fans as a symbol of her friendship with her partner Chen Yuxi).
These two interesting and personal phone cases also did not escape the “golden eyes” of fans, who rushed to post the “same” mobile phone cases they found or customized on the Internet, causing the sales of related products on many e-commerce platforms to more than quadruple within 48 hours of the photo being released.
02 Why is Quan Hongchan so strong with goods?
Quan Hongchan’s amazing ability to bring goods is not accidental, which is closely related to her unique personal characteristics and the characteristics of the products themselves that are brought by her.
National popularity and sports achievements: a solid traffic cornerstone
This is the starting point and foundation of all Quan Hongchan’s influence. As a core member of China’s diving dream team, she won gold medals at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics with phenomenal performances, and even broke historical records many times. This top level of competition and the honor of winning glory for the country allowed her to quickly accumulate unparalleled national popularity and favorability.
It is precisely with this huge attention derived from sports achievements that it provides the most fundamental source of traffic and the foundation of public trust for her subsequent delivery effect.Without the “splash disappearing technique” on the field, there would be no “magic of bringing goods” outside the arena.
Authentic and pure personal charm: break the distance and win love
Outside the arena, Quan Hongchan shows the image of a girl next door in stark contrast to the aura of a world champion. She is young, innocent, sometimes shy in front of the camera (nicknamed “social phobia” by fans but very real), and blunt answers in interviews (such as admitting that she likes to eat spicy strips and wants to go to an amusement park), all of which make her particularly “down-to-earth”.
This unadorned sense of realism is particularly precious at a time when it is full of carefully packaged characters, and it has greatly shortened the distance between her and the public.The public saw in her the side of an ordinary person under the aura of a champion and felt a strong affinity, which made it easier to develop love and identification with her, and then was willing to follow her choice.
“Unintentional Delivery” Model: Trust is the Best “Salesman”
The vast majority of Quan Hongchan’s popular products, such as ugly fish slippers, little turtle pendants, Wakuku dolls, etc., do not come from commercial endorsements or deliberate promotion, but are items that she personally uses or loves in training, competitions or daily life. This model of “unintentional willow insertion” is precisely the key to her strong ability to bring goods.
Because it strips away the traces of commercial promotion, consumers cannot perceive obvious marketing intentions, which greatly reduces psychological defense. Everyone prefers to believe that this is Quan Hongchan’s real choice and taste, and the purchase behavior is more out of love for herself, emotional connection and satisfaction of winning the same style as the champion, and this kind of grass planting effect based on high trust far exceeds blunt advertising.
Media and fan communities: the ubiquitous amplification effect
As a top sports star, Quan Hongchan is always under the focus of the media and the public. Any of her developments, even a small detail on the sidelines or a casual photo on social media, can be captured by the media and quickly amplified to become a hot topic.
At the same time, she has a huge fan base (nearly 4 million followers on Weibo and nearly 18 million fans on Douyin). These active fan groups not only pay close attention to her every move, but also actively discuss, share, and imitate on social platforms, spontaneously forming a powerful communication force. The behavior of “asking for the same style” and “posting the same style” is common in the fan community, and this viral spread has greatly accelerated the exposure and popularity of related products.
Product characteristics fit: low threshold and youthful aesthetics
If you look closely, you will find that those products that are accidentally brought on fire by Quan Hongchan often have some common characteristics: they are usually not expensive and belong to the range that the public can afford, which greatly lowers the threshold for consumers to “get the same style”; At the same time, these products often carry the labels of “moe”, “trendy”, “interesting”, and “personalized”, such as uniquely shaped ugly fish slippers, brightly colored Wakuku dolls, childlike Mario hats, customizable creative mobile phone cases, etc.
These characteristics are exactly in line with the consumer psychology of young consumer groups who pursue novelty, highlight individuality, and pay attention to the “self-pleasing” experience.The affordable price and in line with the aesthetic preferences of young people make these goods easier to accept and buy quickly under Quan Hongchan’s “halo effect”.
03 Quan Hongchan’s unique delivery model
There is no doubt about Quan Hongchan’s strong ability to bring goods, but upon closer examination, you will find that her model is significantly different from what we usually understand as traffic stars. This is not a well-planned business process, but more of an “organic influence” (non-deliberate) model based on her real charisma and outstanding sporting achievements, and its uniqueness is reflected in the following aspects:
Race results are the absolute driving force:
The foundation of Quan Hongchan’s influence is firmly rooted in her world-class diving strength and heavy medals. Every time she “goes out of the circle”, it is inseparable from the highlight performance on the field. This is in stark contrast to some traffic stars who lack representative works and mainly rely on topics and fan traffic to maintain commercial value.For Quan Hongchan, “hard power” is the prerequisite for her to gain attention and love, and it is also the most reliable endorsement of her commercial value.
From the truth, not from business planning:
This is the core difference of the Quan Hongchan model. Whether it is the “ugly fish slippers” that triggered a rush to buy, or the Wakuku doll that fans are eager to imitate, these are not carefully arranged implants or promotions by the brand, but her natural choices and preferences in training, between games or in daily life. This spontaneity, which stems from authenticity, has allowed her to draw a clear line from business practices that deliberately create an atmosphere of “planting grass”.
Not direct sales, but “correlation exposure” effect:
You can hardly see Quan Hongchan like an anchor or spokesperson with goods, holding the product to introduce the functions in detail, emphasize the selling points, and call on everyone to “buy it”. Her “bringing goods” is more like a kind of “association exposure” – because she uses it and she likes it, it is captured by the media, discovered by fans, and then sparked discussion and attention on social networks, and finally converted into purchasing behavior.This is a natural chain from attention to interest to consumption, rather than direct commercial sales.
The basis of high trust comes from the “non-commercial” perception:
It is precisely because the vast majority of popular models do not originate from commercial cooperation and lack obvious traces of “just rice”, which makes the public have a high degree of trust in Quan Hongchan’s “recommendation”. People believe that this is her real choice, and this sense of trust is priceless and difficult to reach many pure commercial promotions.
Strong emotional connection drives consumption:
The motivation of consumers who buy “the same style of Quan Hongchan” often goes beyond the use value of the product itself. It is more of an emotional connection and projection – hoping to express your love and support for her by owning the same items as your idol, share her innocence and vitality, or satisfy a psychological need to “be close to your idol”. This strong emotional drive is an important reason why her “bringing goods” effect is so significant.
Just as Quan Hongchan is widely loved,The Chinese market has indeed seen a clear trend in recent years: more and more brands are turning to sports stars, preferring to choose them over traditional entertainment stars for endorsement collaborations.
Behind this, there is not only the favor for the healthier, positive and stable public image that sports stars usually have, but also the recognition of the positive values such as the sense of national honor and fighting spirit they carry, which can avoid the risk of “collapse” in the entertainment industry to a certain extent and resonate with the broader national sentiment.
At present, China’s consumer market is shifting from entertainment star-making to strength worship, from traffic games to value recognition.
Quan Hongchan’s success undoubtedly provides a very enlightening sample for the exploration of the commercial value of sports stars.
