China snack brand hit for making staff change surname to ‘rat’, call customers ‘master’

A popular Chinese snack brand has ignited online controversy after netizens revealed that its employees have to change their surnames to “rat” and refer to customers as “master”. Recently, a mainland netizen posted online claiming that “after joining Three Squirrels, you lose your real name”. Photographs from an internal meeting showed nameplates such as Shu Laodie, meaning “Rat Dad”, and Shu Laomu, meaning “Rat Mum”. Three Squirrels, which was founded in 2012 in Anhui province, central China,...