‘Sexist’ adverts for ‘virtual boyfriend’ game Love and Producer pulled after backlash
PapeGames says messages in videos were ‘quite different from the theme of accompaniment’ it wanted to express
The developer of a popular Chinese “virtual boyfriend” mobile game has withdrawn a series of advertisements and apologised to its (mostly female) users after being hit with a slew of complaints that they were offensive.
The videos promoting Love and Producer – or Lian Yu Zhi Zuo Ren as the game is known in Mandarin – were launched last weekend to coincide with the Lunar New Year holiday.
In the first, women travelling independently on a coach get into an argument and upset their fellow passengers when they discover they have each selected the same virtual boyfriend character.
In the second, a woman shows off her digital inamorato to her friends – all of whom are boasting about the luxurious Lunar New Year gifts they have received from their partners – while they are at a karaoke bar.