The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2026
AEON Malaysia's Chinese New Year poster looked like a horror film — deleted without a word
The CNY campaign had no smiles, ghostly makeup and exaggerated eyes. AEON quietly deleted it. The silence made it worse.
AEON Malaysia · 2026-01
What happened
On 13 January 2026, AEON Malaysia released a set of Chinese New Year promotional posters on its overseas social media accounts. The images used the expected red palette and festive props, but the models had stiff, smileless expressions, exaggerated narrow eyes and widened eye spacing. Chinese-speaking viewers described the aesthetic as 'paper-effigy style' (纸扎风) — the look of funeral decorations, not a celebration.
The posters initially drew little attention. In late January, Chinese-speaking users in Malaysia and mainland China discovered them, and criticism spread rapidly. Two complaints dominated: the posters evoked ghostly imagery inappropriate for the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar, and the facial styling echoed Western caricatures of Asian features rather than representing the audience the campaign was meant to flatter.
AEON Malaysia's response was to quietly delete the posters from its overseas platforms. No apology, no explanation, no acknowledgement. The silent removal did not end the controversy — it added a second complaint: that the brand's attitude was dismissive of the audience it had offended.
Why it happened
- The creative direction prioritised a stylised 'editorial' look over the emotional register the occasion demanded — CNY advertising in Chinese markets must be warm, auspicious and joyful
- The facial styling — narrow eyes, wide spacing, no expression — read as a Western fashion-magazine trope applied to a Chinese-audience campaign, suggesting the creative was not reviewed by anyone.
- Deleting the posters without a statement turned a creative misfire into a brand-character problem: the audience concluded the brand did not care enough to explain itself
- AEON is a Japanese group operating in a multicultural Malaysian market; the campaign needed to land with Chinese-Malaysian consumers specifically, and the review process failed at that step
The lesson
A campaign for a specific cultural audience must be read by that audience before it ships. And when it misfires, deleting it reads as contempt — an apology costs less than the screenshots.
Aftermath
AEON Malaysia did not issue a public statement. The posters remain deleted. The case circulated in Chinese-language marketing communities as an example of how not to execute a culturally specific campaign, and how not to respond when one fails.
Sources
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