Mall’s Chinese New Year ad has an eye for the politically incorrect

UPDATED: CPN apologizes, pulls ‘controversial’ Chinese New Year ad

 

Fashion is expected to provoke, but in Thailand it’s the marketing which often crosses the line.

Today it’s a little eye-stretching incident which has some people rolling their’s – or worse – complaining of racial insensitivity.

On the first day of the Chinese New Year, megamall operator Central Pattana (CPN), a subsidiary of Central Group, finds itself on the defense over what some see as a racially charged ad depicting a female Caucasian model with a classic, Chinese-style appearance.

Perhaps the model was trying to remove some of her abundant makeup or massage a headache. However many people saw an unmistakable gesture associated with racism in the advertisement running widely throughout Bangkok media.

On a Facebook post discussing the issue headed “Damn Thailand, don’t you know that’s racist?!” comments ranged from “This is wrong in so many ways,” to “Hahahaha. Funny.”

While the gesture isn’t familiar to Thais or most Asians, it’s considered extremely offensive in the West as a sort of old-fashioned expression of racism. So at Central malls – often frequented by tourists and foreign residents – the ads have been drawing a lot of glares and complaints.

Representative from CPN said they were aware of the issue but unable to respond to questions by publication time.

In an article titled “Thai Advertisers Show Dubious Cultural Awareness Once Again,” BK Magazine yesterday said the ad – which ironically enough runs in full-color print on page seven of its current issue – reflects Thai advertisers’ “serious problem with understanding the rules of political correctness and cultural sensitivity.”

Although the campaign is meant to promote how “good” it is to be Chinese, as the caption says, Central uses a Caucasian model, which is kind of the norm for their campaigns. 

It’s not uncommon to find white folks fronting brands and products in Thailand, as there’s an assumption that Thais automatically make a “premium” association by having a Caucasian presenter.

CPN must have missed the recent lessons learned by brands such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Vogue, whose blackface donut commercial and skin-lightened Naomi Campbell cover drew complaints of racial insensitivity.

The ads were a part of CPN’s promotional campaign “Good to be Chinese” which offers shoppers a chance to win a free trip to Hong Kong and other juicy rewards.

Related:

Naomi Campbell’s skin whitened for Vogue Thailand cover

Dunkin’ Donuts Apologizes for Blackface Advert

Unilever Thailand says sorry for controversial whitening contest

 



Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dear Editor,
    It has come to our attention that CPN’s recent Chinese New Year campaign advertisement may have been seen controversial among the Chinese communities.
    We would like to make our heartfelt apology on this issue. We do not have any intention to offend to the Chinese communities. We are extremely sorry for the lack of judgment in this issue as we did not realize that the gesture of the model in the advertisement would be offensive to the Chinese communities.
    We put this issue as our top priority and have taken an immediate action to solve this problem. The advertisement has been taken down from all of our advertising platforms.
    CPN is striving to give the best and rewarding experience to our customers in every aspect. We promise that in the future we will strengthen our advertising review process and take other steps to prevent this type of issue from happening again.

    Sincerely yours,
    Central Pattana Public Company Limited

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