BEIJING (Web Desk) – A Chinese firm is apologizing after its seemingly racist advertisement went viral last week.
The laundry detergent ad depicts a light-skinned Chinese woman throwing a black man covered in paint into a washing machine after a bit of flirting. After undergoing a wash, the man emerges as a light-skinned, “clean” Chinese man.
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The advertisement provoked an uproar on United States (US) news websites, with commentators citing it as an example of racist attitudes towards black people in China.
Also Read: VIDEO: Racist Chinese ad showing a black man being ‘white-washed’ has the internet abuzz
Qiaobi, the company behind the ad, issued an apology, but said that the international media was exaggerating the incident.
The company also said it has removed traces of the ad online and hopes “that internet users and media will not continue to circulate it.”
Since being posted on YouTube by an independent person on Thursday, the ad has been viewed nearly 7 million times.
