The ??? ?? ????makers of Chinese laundry detergent Qiaobi have issued a statement of apology after causing an uproar for its recent ad which many saw as blatantly racist.
However, the apology came only after the company, Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics, initially brushed off criticism from foreign media and netizens, labelling them as "sensitive", reported The BBC.
The ad depicts a Chinese woman doing her laundry and tricking a black man, who had presumably just finished painting her house, into the washing machine.
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The woman then adds Qiaobi laundry detergent before starting the wash, and the black man emerges as a young and clean Chinese man.
After the commercial made it onto China's airwaves, it was posted online and drew criticism for its racist message. The video was viewed more than eight million times and got repeatedly shared by outraged netizens, before foreign media picked up on the story.
On Friday, Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics posted an apology on its official Weibo account.
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable In the statement, the company wrote that it was purely coincidental that a coloured person was in the commercial and that it was never implied that skin colour is an indicator of its product's quality.
"We express our apology for the harm caused to the African people because of the spread of the ad and the over-amplification by the media," it said. "We sincerely hope the public and media will not over-read it."
Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics has also expressed regret over the incident and stressed that it would never shirk responsibility when it comes to such serious matters.
The company has since withdrawn all links to the commercial, and has asked people to stop sharing the video online.
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