As many locals struggled to secure their next meal under China’s harsh COVID lockdowns, officials urged calm by launching a social media campaign aimed at showing how well stocked sealed-in residents were. It didn’t end well. It started with a leaked official memo instructing Chinese Communist Party officials in a northeastern Chinese city to flood upbeat content on Chinese social media in a bid to counter the prevailing negative sentiment and display the alleged “real situation” about food supplies. “The outbreak control task in our city has moved into a critical stage,” read a leaked memo from Changchun city authorities. In a campaign dubbed “show off your pack of vegetables,” the officials went on to task “all Party cadres across city agencies” to begin posting “vivid short videos and photos” of the food supplies they received through their personal accounts on platforms such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, …