Changan Ford's 'lift her skirt' ad — CCTV and Xinhua pile on

On May 18, 2021, Changan Ford's official Weibo posted a video asking whether 'a boy running at high speed really lifts a girl's skirt, as in Japanese anime' — a white-dressed model recreating the scene, under hashtags including 'take a feast for your eyes' (带你一饱眼福). The spot was built on its vehicles' acceleration.

Netizens called the ad vulgar and disrespectful to women, and the topic 'Changan Ford ad tests car speed by lifting a girl's skirt' trended on Weibo that afternoon. The account deleted the post and apologized: 'The editor realizes the mistake, has immediately deleted the content and sincerely apologizes, will never do it again, strictly following correct online content values, thanks to netizens for supervision.'

The backlash did not stop at the apology. CCTV (央视网) called it 'low-brow marketing' that would backfire on the brand; Xinhua commented in three sentences — health and civility are the bottom line, courting vulgarity is not personality, and learning from the mistake matters more than admitting it. Doubts grew when the apology post showed only three hand-picked comments, making the apology itself a second controversy.