Uniqlo pulled a fleece ad in South Korea after a subtitle sparked a colonial-era row

In October 2019, Uniqlo released a 15-second ad for its '25 Years of Fleece' campaign featuring 98-year-old fashion icon Iris Apfel. In the original English, Apfel says 'I can't remember that far back.' The Korean-language subtitle rendered this as 'I can't remember things that happened more than 80 years ago' — which critics said pointed to 1939, during Japan's colonial occupation of Korea when wartime sexual slavery was active.

'Uniqlo comfort women' became a top search term in South Korea. Protesters demonstrated outside Uniqlo stores. The controversy erupted amid broader South Korea-Japan trade tensions and consumer boycotts of Japanese brands. Uniqlo denied any political motive, saying the '80 years' was meant to emphasise the age gap, but withdrew the ad on October 21.

The case illustrated how a translation choice — whether careless or deliberate — can ignite a historical grievance when it lands in a market still processing colonial trauma. Uniqlo's denial of intent did not defuse the situation; the ad's withdrawal confirmed, for critics, that there was something to object to.