The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025
Swatch's model pulled his eyes into a 'slant eye' pose — China pulled the brand
The campaign for Swatch Essentials ran on Weibo. Within days, products were removed from Chinese e-commerce sites and Swatch apologised in two languages.
Swatch Group · 2025-08-16
What happened
In August 2025, Swatch published promotional images on Chinese social media showing an Asian male model pulling the corners of his eyes into what commentators identified as the racist 'slant eye' gesture, historically used to mock Asian people. The images promoted the Swatch Essentials collection and appeared on platforms including Weibo.
The backlash was immediate. Chinese consumers called for a boycott, and products were pulled from Chinese e-commerce platforms. Brand sentiment data from CARMA showed Swatch's positive sentiment falling from 32.3% to 17.6% while negative sentiment rose from 11.9% to 44.7%, across more than 1,900 global mentions.
On 16 August, Swatch apologised in statements on Instagram and Weibo, saying it had 'taken note of recent concerns regarding the portrayal of a model' and confirmed it had removed all related materials worldwide. The apology did not prevent the commercial consequences: the brand faced a sustained boycott in one of its largest markets.
Why it happened
- The creative was approved without a cultural-sensitivity review that would have identified the gesture's history as a racial caricature
- A global campaign was localised for China without a local review stage that could have flagged the specific sensitivity
- The gesture echoed a pattern: Dior faced similar criticism in 2023 for an ad showing an Asian model pulling up the corner of her eye
- Swatch's China revenue dependence meant the boycott had immediate commercial consequences, not just reputational ones
The lesson
A gesture that reads as playful in a studio can read as a racial caricature in the market — local review is not a translation step, it is a cultural-sensitivity gate.
Aftermath
Swatch removed all related materials worldwide and issued apologies in English and Chinese. The brand's sentiment recovered slowly. The case was cited alongside Dolce & Gabbana's 2018 chopsticks controversy as an example of Western brands repeatedly failing to anticipate Chinese consumer sensitivity to perceived cultural disrespect.
Sources
- Adweek: Swatch pulls slanted-eye ad in China following backlash
- NBC News: Watchmaker Swatch apologizes for slanted-eye ad
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