The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2021
Ubras' 'lie flat and win the workplace' bra ad sparked outrage — apology in a day
In February 2021 Li Dan promoted Ubras bras as 'gear for women to lie flat and win the workplace'. Read as objectifying, the brand deleted and apologized.
Ubras (Ubras) · 2021-02
What happened
On 24 February 2021, stand-up comedian Li Dan (李诞) posted a Weibo ad for Ubras, a size-free underwear brand whose customers are overwhelmingly women. His copy called the bra "a piece of gear that lets women lie flat and win the workplace (让女性轻松躺赢职场的装备)", adding "there is nothing I cannot sell".
The post drew immediate criticism: "躺赢" (winning by lying flat) was read as implying women succeed through their bodies rather than their ability, with overtones of sexism and a wink at sexual innuendo. Users protested under both Li Dan's and Ubras' accounts, and some said they would stop buying the brand.
Ubras apologized the same day: "the inappropriate wording in our marketing caused discomfort, we are deeply sorry, and we took the content down immediately", promising stricter review of content going forward. The next day Li Dan reposted the apology, saying "as a language worker I should have seen the impact of this copy when I received it... this one is on me." No regulator fine followed, but '躺赢职场' became a permanent punchline attached to the brand.
Why it happened
- "躺赢" carries a double meaning in Chinese — winning effortlessly, or by lying down — and pointing that pun at the women who buy the product framed their success as a matter of posture, not work.
- A male comedian fronting a women's underwear brand made the joke land on people outside it: the voice mocking the audience was a man's — exactly the dynamic the audience had been complaining about.
- The copy passed through both the celebrity and the brand without anyone flagging the pun — a two-party release chain with no review node that owned the audience's perspective.
The lesson
If your ad's punchline is that your own customer wins by lying down, the buyer is the joke. A male voice making that joke about women multiplies it — vet copy for whose dignity it spends.
Sources
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