Chinese sites pull Dolce & Gabbana products to protest ‘racist’ advert

‘Eating with chopsticks’ campaign sparks calls for boycott of brand

Harry Cockburn
Friday 23 November 2018 11:41 GMT
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An image from the offensive advert
An image from the offensive advert

Dolce & Gabbana products have disappeared from Chinese e-commerce sites, as the brand cancelled a fashion show in Shanghai this week after drawing condemnation for a series of adverts described as racist by celebrities and on social media.

Showing a Chinese woman struggling to eat pizza and spaghetti with chopsticks, the commercials prompted calls for a boycott.

The issue was compounded after a number of screenshots began circulating online appearing to show co-founder and designer Stefano Gabbana refer to “China Ignorant Dirty Smelling Mafia” in an Instagram chat, in which he also appeared to use the 'poop' emoji to describe the country.

The firm apologised for any offence in a message on Chinese social media network Weibo, but claimed Gabbana’s Instagram accounts had been hacked.

“We have nothing but respect for China and the people of China,” a message from the brand said.

The controversy was the number one topic on Weibo, with more than 120 million reads by mid-afternoon, as celebrities including “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” star Zhang Ziyi posted critical comments about the brand

Many users said they were annoyed by what they considered the patronising tone of the narrator in the “Eating with Chopsticks” campaign.

Wednesday night’s show in Shanghai “has been postponed,” the company added, without elaborating or specifying if there would be a new date for the show. “We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience this has caused.”

A slate of celebrities, such as actress Li Bingbing and singer Wang Junkai, had said they would boycott the Shanghai show.

It is not the first time Dolce & Gabbana has drawn fire in China. A series of advertisements last year prompted criticism and debate among social media users saying they only showed the grungy side of Chinese life.

Dolce & Gabbana co-founders Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana said in a statement that their “dream was to bring to Shanghai a tribute event dedicated to China”.

“What happened today was very unfortunate not only for us, but also for all the people who worked day and night to bring this event to life," it said.

The incident underscores the risks for global brands in China, where influential online citizens often respond rapidly to perceived cultural slights and can have a major impact on firms seeking to lure the country’s big-spending shoppers.

Additional reporting by agencies

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