Redmi, Xiaomi Corp’s budget brand, has been bashed by state-owned media for making an apparent reference to the “five demands” of Hong Kong democracy protesters in an advert for its smart TV products. In a Weibo post on Tuesday morning, Redmi TV ran an advert for its first-ever smart TV products which portrayed the video content providers on its platform as “the five platforms, not one less”, in bold Chinese characters. The five platforms advertised by Redmi for its smart TVs, which are set to be unveiled on August 29, include all of China’s top three online video providers – iQiyi, Tencent Video and Youku. Huanqiu.com, a Chinese website owned by the state-backed Global Times, criticised the Redmi advert as “brainless” and “hopeless”. Protesters in Hong Kong have made “five demands, not one less” of the government as a precursor to stopping unrest in the city, including complete withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill. The criticism from huanqiu.com immediately pushed the Redmi advert to one of the top topics on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform. It has now been pulled by Redmi with the phrase replaced with a reference to “huge content”. The new ad received a ‘thumbs up’ icon from huanqiu.com. Xiaomi declined to comment on the Redmi advert. Xiaomi posts 87 per cent quarterly profit decline amid global smartphone slowdown On Tuesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor vowed to tackle ongoing protests in the city by legal means after meeting with several youth group leaders on Monday to try and find a way out of the current crisis. The protests have drawn strong condemnation from Beijing. Huanqiu.com, along with other state-back media organisations, have strongly backed the Hong Kong SAR government as well as the Hong Kong police force in their efforts to contain the political crisis and protests. The advert drew a mixed reaction from Weibo users. “Is it proper for a platform like you [Redmi] to put out words like this?” a Weibo user named “Liumushanlb” commented in one post. “Have you [Redmi] been affected by it [protests]?” said the user. Another Weibo user named “Xinshidaizhangming” said huanqiu.com was “overacting”. Online controversy over adverts in China is not new. In April, Chinese censors accused condom manufacturer Durex of using “soft pornography” to promote its products on social media and vowed to step up their crackdown on vulgar content online. For more insights into China tech, join our Facebook group, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report . Also roam China Tech City , an interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus . (The story has been corrected to read that iQiyi, Tencent Video and Youku are among the video platforms supported by Redmi’s new smart TVs.)