On the evening of August 12, 2026, Big Pizza founder Zhao Zhiqiang found himself at the center of a social media storm after a single comment. A netizen posted on his video feed, complaining that the restaurant had too many carbs and not enough meat, saying, "A monk could eat a whole round at Big Pizza and still not break his vows." Zhao replied, "A monk eating Big Pizza doesn't break his vows, but looking at your photo does...", accompanied by a praying hands emoji. The comment section erupted instantly.
Some users called out the remark, asking, "Is that a dirty joke I think it is?" When another warned, "Looks like you're heading the same way as Xibei," Zhao responded, "You flatter me too much." By around 10 PM that evening, the original reply had been deleted. Zhao later explained to the media that his "breaking vows" comment was meant to refer to the appeal of food photos. A company representative urged the public not to read too much into it. By then, the 53-year-old founder was already at the center of a public relations firestorm.
IPO Hurdles Emerge
Big Pizza is not a small player in the market. It operates an Italian-style pizza buffet chain, holding about 4.3% of the domestic market share, trailing only Pizza Hut's 30% and Domino's China's 10%. The brand name is a Chinese homophone for "Big." Its first store opened in 2002 on Xizhimenwai Street in Beijing. At that time, Pizza Hut was still a symbol of upscale family dining. Big Pizza carved out a niche with a 39 yuan buffet, targeting students and price-sensitive consumers with extreme value for money.
Over two decades, the chain has expanded to 387 restaurants across 127 cities, including 310 company-owned and 77 franchise locations. Based on gross merchandise value (GMV) for the first three quarters of 2025, it ranked first among local pizza, buffet, and Western casual dining chains in China, with a total GMV of 1.7 billion yuan and a membership base of approximately 9.3 million people.
On January 16, 2026, Big Pizza International Holdings Limited officially filed for a Hong Kong IPO, aiming to become "China's first self-serve pizza stock." However, the door to the capital market has not opened easily. The prospectus lapsed on July 16 after six months, missing the automatic renewal deadline. Other companies that filed for Hong Kong IPOs around the same time, including Lao Xiang Ji, Ba Nuo International, COMMUNE, and Yuan Ji Yun Jiao, faced the same fate. As of now, Big Pizza has not disclosed a new filing plan.
Behind the lapsed prospectus lies a shift in regulatory scrutiny. Store count is no longer a guaranteed pass for listing. Compliance governance, profit quality, and sustainable growth have become the more critical benchmarks. Big Pizza's financials are not ugly, but concerns linger. From 2023 to 2024, the company experienced "revenue growth without profit growth." While the first three quarters of 2025 showed some recovery, the net profit margin still hovered around 3.7%. The debt-to-asset ratio, though down from 107% to 93%, remains high. The Zhao family controls roughly 86% of voting rights, raising questions about governance transparency. The store network is heavily concentrated in the north, with over 80 outlets in Beijing but only 5 in Shanghai, creating a "strong north, weak south" pattern that limits growth. Additionally, Chinese regulators have requested explanations regarding the legality of the red-chip structure's foreign exchange registration, pricing and tax issues related to the round-trip acquisition, and any major litigation or arbitration.
The Cost of a Single Comment
As the brand's founder, Zhao Zhiqiang's personal video account has amassed over 270,000 followers, publishing more than 4,000 short videos. He built a reputation for being "strict" and "listening to feedback" by filming store inspections and criticizing hygiene issues. But the other side of this coin is that a founder's every word and action becomes deeply intertwined with the brand.
The "breaking vows" controversy is not an isolated incident. Recent comments on Zhao's videos had already been filled with complaints about the menu—too many carbs, not enough meat. New product tests like Guobao Rou and Jiaozi have been slower than expected, with netizens sarcastically noting, "If it's meat, they study it for three years; if it's carbs, it's on the menu in 30 days." Consumer patience is wearing thin. When product complaints stack up against a founder's controversial remarks, the reputational risk multiplies.
Regarding Zhao's confrontation with the netizen, one commenter said, "For a CEO to say something like that is really something." Another bluntly stated, "Looks like you're heading the same way as Xibei." A single comment may not destroy a brand, but during a critical IPO window, any negative publicity can affect an investor's assessment of management's judgment and the brand's image.
A Pattern of Entrepreneurial Missteps
In recent years, more and more entrepreneurs have found themselves in public relations crises due to inappropriate remarks on social media or in public. Big Pizza is not alone. In February 2025, a screenshot circulated online showing Ba Niu Huo Guo founder Du Zhongbin saying during a livestream, "If you earn 5,000 yuan a month, don't eat at Ba Niu, go have some Malatang instead." Public anger spread quickly. Despite Du later explaining his words were taken out of context, the label "unworthy of eating if you earn 5,000 yuan" stuck to the brand.
In August 2025, Bai Guo Yuan founder Yu Huiyong responded to criticism about high fruit prices by saying, "Bai Guo Yuan has been educating consumers to be mature for years; we won't cater to them." This was seen as "arrogant" and "condescending," leading to a sharp drop in the stock price. A 2018 video clip of Zhong Xue Gao founder Lin Sheng saying, "Our 66-yuan ice cream is yours whether you like it or not," haunted the brand for years. It wasn't until 2025 that a court ruled the clip was maliciously edited, but the damage to the brand's reputation over five years was irreversible.
In September 2025, Xibei founder Jia Guolong personally "clashed" with Luo Yonghao after Luo questioned Xibei's use of pre-made dishes. Jia labeled Luo a "cyber blackmouth" and vowed to "sue even if it means losing business." Ultimately, Xibei's customer traffic dropped to 40% of normal levels, and it closed 102 stores. In June 2026, Zhui Mi founder Yu Hao was muted on multiple platforms after posting content that violated rules by "calling out" and belittling other companies on Weibo. His personal social media account was subsequently taken over by the company. Some commentators have noted that the core trigger for many PR crises in 2025 was not product defects, but the "class superiority" or "lecturing tone" displayed by entrepreneurs, which directly offended a sensitive public.
Why Do Entrepreneurs Keep Tripping Up?
Entrepreneurs getting into trouble for their words is not a random accident. It is the inevitable result of multiple forces at play in today's media and communication ecosystem. First, the founder's personal brand has become a core asset for the company. In the age of attention economics, a founder's personal IP is seen as a low-cost way to attract customers. Zhao's 270,000 followers and Yu Hao's 628,000 followers are all important sources of brand traffic. But this tight link means any deviation in personal behavior directly impacts the brand.
Second, social media amplifies the public nature of individual expression. A single video comment or a short clip from a livestream can go viral within hours. An entrepreneur's "casual" remark on a private account is given far more weight in the public sphere than intended. When a PR director says something wrong, there is a superior to correct it. When an entrepreneur says something wrong, there is no fallback.
Third, there is a generational disconnect. Many entrepreneurs born in the 1960s and 1970s grew up in a traditional business environment and lack sensitivity to the online public opinion landscape dominated by Generation Z. When controversy arises, they often try to defuse it with "it was just a joke" or "can't you take a joke?" They don't realize that in an era where even the phrase "breaking vows" can be endlessly interpreted, the boundaries of humor have shrunk considerably. The lesson from Xibei is clear: the founder personally waded into the fight, only to see customer traffic halved and stores closed. When Zhao Zhiqiang responded to the netizen's suggestion that he would follow Xibei's path, he said, "You flatter me too much." That line feels like a darkly humorous twist of fate.
After its prospectus lapsed, Big Pizza has not yet re-filed. The company plans to open between 610 and 790 new stores from 2026 to 2028, but it has yet to resolve the "triple concerns" of high debt, low profit, and family governance. Now, the founder's "breaking vows" comment has added another layer of uncertainty to the IPO path. Entrepreneurs can have personality, but they cannot be too willful. In an era where traffic is a double-edged sword, how to balance personal expression with brand responsibility, and how to find the boundary between being oneself and being a public figure, is a question every entrepreneur aiming for the capital market must address.
This article does not constitute any investment advice.