Racial Content In Chinese Commercial Goes Viral

Racist Chinese detergent brand Qiaobi (俏比) ad
Racist Chinese detergent brand Qiaobi (俏比) ad (photo: Screengrab)
By Michelle GuanzonJune 8th, 2016

One Chinese television commercial for Qiaobi laundry detergent appeared "racist" that causes controversy.

The said advertisement is the Chinese version of an Italian commercial for Coloreria, a detergent designed for washing colors in which the woman on the ad forces a skinny white man into her washing machine. When the wash has been completed, the man who emerged is black and muscular.

In its Chinese version, a young woman is shown doing her laundry. When a black man whistles a her, she lures him over. The woman pretends to kiss the man but she pushed a detergent pod into his mouth instead and stuffs him to the washing machine. The woman sits on top of washing machine to keep the man from escaping and when the wash was completed, the man transformed into an Asian male with fair skin.

The ad appears to be reference to Chinese beauty standard of light skin.

According to a report, the ad appeared on the big screen before movies in at least once cinema chain in China. Buzfeed called "most racist ad of 2016" saying that commercial "will likely leave you feeling like you need a shower."

Vox news site said the ad is "blatantly racist".

Despite the negative reactios, the brand has received lots of attention and the Youtube video of this ad garnered more than 9 million views.

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