Is this the most racist advert ever?

A Chinese washing powder advert has been doing the rounds on the internet recently, now you might think a washing powder ad what’s the worst that could happen? You are probably thinking how can something as mundane as washing powder possibly go viral? Well this Chinese retail advertisement did just that and more which has led it to be seen as one of the biggest controversies of recent times, it has even been dubbed as the ‘most racist commercial ever’.

The advert in question was one commissioned by the Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics Ltd for their Qiaobi laundry detergent. There are no words spoken in the video so there was no need for retail translations services as mostly comical music and sound effects were used.

It features a young Asian actress and a black actor, the actor who has paint marks on his face from working, eyes the woman who is assumed to be the homeowner who smiles back at the man whilst standing beside a washing machine. He ‘wolf-whistles’ the woman then approaches her and puts his hands on her waist and goes in for a kiss, the woman at this point stuffs a washing tablet into his mouth and throws him into the washing machine where you hear comical screams as the lady sits on top of the lid to keep it shut, let’s be honest in reality that would be brutal and lead to a prison sentence. After the cycle has finished and most shockingly a fair-skinned Asian man emerges from the washing machine much to the woman’s adulation. He then holds the brands product to the screen and winks.

Now you don’t need Mandarin translation services to tell you what is going on here, in fact this advert will translate into any language in the world as a massive mistake.

After all this global condemning and outrage of the advert Leishang Cosmetics have apologised for any ‘harm’ they caused to African people and expressed their condemnation of racial discrimination. They also went on further to say that they take full responsibility of the content and that the media have ‘over-amplified’ the situation. Make of that what you will.

What are your thoughts on this? Have they gone too far or is this simply naivety?