Chinese firm behind racist detergent ad tells critics to lighten up

A Chinese detergent commercial showing a black man stuffed into a washing machine and transformed into a fair-skinned Asian provoked outrage this week, but the company behind the clip says it is foreign critics who need to lighten up.

The commercial for the “Qiaobi” brand — which has gone viral in the West — shows a black man whistling and winking at a young Chinese woman, who calls him over, puts a detergent packet into his mouth, and forces him headfirst into a washing machine.

She sits on the lid while the man shrieks. Moments later an Asian man emerges in clean clothes, and the woman grins.

“We meant nothing but to promote the product, and we had never thought about the issue of racism,” a spokesman for the Leishang cosmetics company, which produces the detergent, told China’s Global Times.

“The foreign media might be too sensitive about the ad,” he added.

The spokesman said a shorter version was broadcast in China, which did not feature the black actor, and he had no idea how the full-length clip ended up online.