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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Terry Tang

Asian American boba brand finds opportunity after Simu Liu sparks cultural appropriation debate

Boba Backlash - (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Olivia Chen and Pauline Ang, friends and business partners on boba milk tea brand Twrl, have tried three times to get on “Shark Tank,” the ABC reality show where up-and-coming entrepreneurs try to woo big-name backers.

Now, in a plot twist they couldn't have imagined, the San Francisco Bay Area-based women have a chance to pitch a pretty well-known investor — actor Simu Liu. The irony is that it came about after they posted a video on TikTok in support of Liu calling out the white owners of a boba drink brand for cultural appropriation on “Dragons' Den,” the Canadian version of “Shark Tank." Somehow it found its way to Liu and the “Shang-Chi” star invited Twrl to send his team a “pitch deck.”

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