Swiss watch brand Swatch has deleted and apologized for the photo after controversy in China, featuring a model in a promotional photo that made a “torn-eyed” gesture meant to disparage Asians.
According to media such as Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) and China Maeil Economic Daily on the 18th, Swatch recently released a photo of the “Swatch Essential” series showing an Asian male model pulling out the sides of the corners of her eyes with her hands.
There was strong criticism on Chinese social media over the promotional photo of racist behavior. There were also calls for a boycott of Swatch, saying it was “hating Asians and disparaging of Chinese people.”
In response, Swatch Group issued a statement on Weibo, a Chinese social media, on the 16th, saying, “We are paying attention to recent concerns regarding the appearance of the model in the Swatch Essential Collection photo. We treated this issue extremely important and immediately deleted relevant data from all over the world,” and apologized.
French fashion brand Christian Dior, meanwhile, was embroiled in a controversy over Chinese demeaning after a model wearing traditional Chinese clothes and carrying a Dior bag at the 2021 “Lady Dior” exhibition in Shanghai, highlighting her squinty eyes with dark makeup. In 2023, he posted a close-up commercial photo of an Asian model pulling the corner of his eyes upward on social media, sparking controversy over racism.
SAM KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
