Japanese brand Uniqlo pulls ad after accusations of defaming Korean wartime sex slaves

Japanese clothing giant Uniqlo has pulled a controversial ad accused of ridiculing Korean ‘comfort women’

In the ad, Iris Apfel, a 98-year-old fashionista, has a conversation about fashion with a 13-year-old designer

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Uniqlo has come under fire for allegedly defaming Korean comfort women in an advertisement. Photo Reuters

Published: 2:13pm, 21 Oct 2019Updated: 7:23pm, 22 Oct 2019

By Kim Hyun-bin

Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo is again embroiled in controversy in Korea for a contentious advertisement that Koreans believe tries to make a political statement about wartime forced labour and sex slavery during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Uniqlo, which has fallen victim to a campaign to boycott Japanese goods, recently released a TV commercial, designed to promote its “25 years of fleece”.

The advertisement shows, Iris Apfel, a 98-year-old fashionista and a 13-year-old fashion designer having a conversation, in which the girl compliments the former's style saying “Wow this is so amazing. How did you use to dress when you were my age?”

Apfel replies, “I can’t remember that far back,” a sentence that is sparking a debate after being translated into Korean, which states, “How can I remember it was over 80 years ago?”

The controversial advertisement shows Iris Apfel, 98, talking with a teenage fashion designer.

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