The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2016
Qiaobi's detergent ad 'washed' a black man into a Chinese man
Qiaobi's laundry ad showed a woman stuffing a black man into a washing machine. He emerged as a fair-skinned Chinese man. 6.5M YouTube views before the apology.
Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics (Qiaobi)
What happened
In March 2016, Chinese detergent brand Qiaobi released a commercial for its laundry pod. The ad showed a Chinese woman doing laundry. A black man, covered in paint, approaches. The woman puts a detergent tab in his mouth, shoves him into a washing machine, and closes the lid. He emerges as a fair-skinned Chinese man — clean, smiling, and acceptable.
The message was unmistakable: the detergent is so powerful it can 'wash' a black man into a Chinese man. The ad drew little attention in China but sparked global outrage when it surfaced on YouTube. It was watched over 6.5 million times and labelled 'possibly the most racist TV commercial ever.'
Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics initially dismissed critics as 'too sensitive' and blamed foreign media for amplifying the ad. On May 28, 2016, the company apologised, stating it 'strongly opposed and condemned racial discrimination' and expressing 'apology for the harm caused to the African people.' It withdrew the ad — while also urging the public 'not to over-read it.'
Why it happened
- The concept was the racism: a black man washed into a Chinese man is not a metaphor that needs interpretation — the ad says black skin is dirt to be cleaned.
- The company dismissed the criticism first: calling overseas critics 'too sensitive' before apologising confirmed the racism was not an accident but a worldview.
- The 'don't over-read it' plea was the non-apology: telling people not to read meaning into an ad whose entire concept is racial transformation is asking them to unsee what they saw.
- The domestic-international gap was structural: the ad ran for two months in China without controversy — the fact that it aired at all is the deeper failure.
The lesson
If your detergent ad's punchline is that a black man comes out of the wash as a Chinese man, the product benefit is racism. No apology asking the audience to 'not over-read' what they saw will land.
Sources
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