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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Qiaobi’s “Horrible” and “Racist” Commercial Taken Down, Chinese Netizens Respond

The controversial Qiaobi laundry detergent commercial that shows a black man turning into a Chinese man after being ‘washed’ has been taken down by the company. The brand apologizes for the controversy, but many Chinese netizens are not satisfied.

Manya Koetse

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The controversial Qiaobi laundry detergent commercial that shows a black man turning into a Chinese man after being ‘washed’ has been taken down by the company. The brand apologizes for the controversy, but many Chinese netizens are not satisfied.

Earlier this week, a Chinese commercial for laundry detergent caused big controversy when international media exposed how it depicts a black man turning Chinese after a girl puts him in the washing machine. Many media…

Manya Koetse is a sinologist, writer, and public speaker specializing in China’s social trends, digital culture, and online media ecosystems. She founded What’s on Weibo in 2013 and now runs the Eye on Digital China newsletter. Learn more at manyakoetse.com or follow her on X, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Quack Like a Goose: Why Beijing Street Vendor “Auntie Goose Legs” Sparked a Nationwide Debate

After the first complaints surfaced, Auntie Goose Legs admitted the truth about her business: she ha been selling duck legs all along.

Manya Koetse

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🔥 Originally published in Eye on Digital China.
My premium newsletter covering the stories, memes, debates, and viral moments shaping online conversations in China. Subscribe here to receive future editions.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it might still be a goose – or the other way around. That, at least, is the takeaway from two stories that recently went viral on Chinese social media.

The woman at…

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Chapter Dive

My Mum Has Two Husbands: The OPPO Mother’s Day Fiasco and 7 Other Gender Marketing Fails in China

Inside OPPO’s Mother’s Day PR fiasco and other failed marketing campaigns in China’s gender minefield

Manya Koetse

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The backlash to OPPO’s Mother’s Day ad came from multiple directions, from grassroots netizens to official organizations. Here’s a closer look at the controversy, along with 7 other cases that show how gender-related marketing has become a recurring minefield for brands in China.

Mother’s Day is over, but OPPO is still recovering. The Chinese smartphone brand went viral over the weekend for a Mother’s Day marketing campaign that failed spectacularly. In the campaign, OPPO…

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