Mercedes-Benz mired in controversy over ad showing model with slanted eyes in China

German luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz created a stir since the beginning of this week after it rolled out an advertisement featuring a model with slanted eyes. The controversial ad has started a debate over depictions of Asians by foreign firms. Similar ads with slanted eyes of the model were also launched by Chinese online snack retailer Three Squirrels.

According to the Chinese Communist Party's stooge Global Times, the video advertisement of Mercedes-Benz was posted on its officials Weibo account on December 25. However, the female model's slanted eyes were slammed by the netizens with "many blaming that the makeup reflects Western stereotypes about Asian people". 

Following the controversy, the video was removed from the company's Weibo account. "The argument over an advertisement by Three Squirrels also ignited a heated debate and Mercedes-Benz's ad sparked a fresh wave of discussion since Monday," the paper said.

Chinese snacks retailer Three Squirrels mired in controversy

Chinese snacks retailer Three Squirrels is also mired in a fuss over its ad featuring a model with small and narrow eyes. The advertisement was also removed later.

"I was born with eyes like that. They are even smaller in the real line. Does that mean I should not be a model because I was born with small eyes?... However, creating big problems out of normal matters has become a morbid obsession," the model said on her Weibo account, adding that she is all for patriotism, Global Times reported.

This is not the first time an advertisement has infuriated Chinese citizens. In 2018, Italian luxury fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana posted three short videos on Weibo promoting its Shanghai runway extravaganza. However, the videos featured Asian women dressed in D&G clothing attempting to eat spaghetti, pizza and cannoli with chopsticks. In just 24 hours of posting it, the fashion house removed clips following criticism. 

In November, luxury fashion house Dior had also removed a Shanghai exhibition from photographer Chen Man after her images received flak for stereotypical notions of Asian women. The photographer had also issued an apology for her artwork. In October 2019 too, Dior had apologised for its video presentation showing Taiwan not part of China went viral. In its apology, the brand said that it supported China's territorial sovereignty.