In preparation for a big show, The luxury brand Dolce&Gabbana made a lot of ads online in order to promote their show which was due to take place in Shanghai on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, they did not use the right way to promote their event on Chinese social media. Just a few hours before the show Dolce & Gabbana in China, the luxury brand faced of some accusations of racism, and the event have been postponed, according to the luxury brand’s official Weibo account.
Dolce&Gabbana has found itself implicated in controversy over a series of videos released on social media. At the same time that the postponement was announced, a number of celebrity guests had already said they would not be attending the show. The controversy is due to a series of three mini-videos that shows an Asian model struggling to eat Italian food with chopsticks. The videos were created to promote “The Great Show,” which is billed by the fashion house as a “tribute to China.”
The first “mini video,” published Sunday, shows a model in a sequined red dress attempting to eat an entire pizza. She tries to eat the pizza with chopsticks to the sound of stereotypical Chinese music, before a narrator offers seemingly patronizing advice such as “don’t attempt to use the chopsticks as knives” and “just use your chopsticks like pliers.”
In the second and third mini-video, the same model attempts this time to eat a cannoli and a bowl of spaghetti. The narrator seems to mispronounce the brand’s name, and it seems as mocking the way Chinese people say “Dolce & Gabbana.”
All the videos were posted on Weibo hours before the show was due to start.
Some Chinese internet users reacted badly to the controversy, we read some of them describe the video series as “extremely racist” and created with the “intention to spark public attention, and perhaps rage, for the purpose of
advertisement and profits.” The post describes the move as “both pitiful and disrespectful.”
A WeChat post shared by the company said that there would be “a shining runway, modern style, and glamorous superstars.” But a number of celebrities announced that they would withdraw from the event.
In the reaction of this controversy, both Gabbana and the luxury brand have since posted messages on Instagram saying that their accounts had been hacked, with the Italian designer pasting the words “not me” over images of the alleged exchange. Unfortunately, it’s not enough for the Chinese audience.
Sum up
Bad Ads+Bad Comments can ruin your reputation in China. Whatever if you are big luxury brands, you should always take care of your image and keep in mind that Chinese consumers are completely different from the rest of the world.
