On the day of the Double Twelve sales event, at 9:00 AM, Orange Pay released version 2.1. Building on top of version 2.0, it added a contact list, chat windows, and a red packet feature.
The Market Department arranged for a group of online shills to write a large number of promotional articles on Weibo, Renren Network, and Toutiao. These included titles like, "My husband sent me a 1,314 yuan red packet, what should I buy?", "A Red Packet of Love: The Story Behind 666 Yuan," and "I got my first paycheck after graduation and sent my mom a 520 yuan red packet."
The stories seemed heartwarming, but they all subtly mentioned Orange Pay's red packet feature.
The methods were crude, but the results were remarkable.
A large number of long-distance couples really did start sending each other red packets. They then went on Weibo and their social feeds to post screenshots and show off, which in turn encouraged even more people to join in.
