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| A Purcotton store is seen in Hefei, Anhui province, China, on December 14, 2020 (File photo by=Costfoto/Barcroft Media via Getty Images) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] A Chinese advertisement for make-up wipes which linked a woman's appearance to the likelihood of assault has been taken down, and the company forced to apologize, after a backlash over "victim-blaming".
The advertisement, released last week by Chinese cotton products manufacturer Purcotton, showed a woman walking home at night followed by a male stalker. As he gains on her, she removes her make-up using the wipes and transforms into a man, scaring off the would-be attacker. It was widely panned on Chinese social media, as users on the Twitter-like service Weibo complained it made light of a serious issue and vowed to boycott the brand's products.
"Isn't this simply insulting the female sex? Making an advert out of a woman being stalked? This is a crime," wrote one user, in a comment that amassed more than 50,000 likes. Although the company has since apologized twice, it initially defended the advertisement as a "creative concept", prompting further outrage. The Weibo hashtag "Purcotton apology" had gained 500 million views as of Tuesday morning. It’s the latest company to be ensnared as more and more Chinese social media users have called out advertisements deemed sexist in recent years, a trend that major international brands such as Ikea and Audi have also fallen foul of.
