Intel pulls Chinese ad featuring comedian Yang Li after it angered men – then women hit back

Name: Norah Yang: introducing stand-up comedy to China
Uploaded: 2021-03-23T16:00:19.000Z
Duration: 3 min 10 s
Description: Norah Yang: introducing stand-up comedy to China

Intel has become mired in controversy after pulling an ad featuring Yang Li, known for her comedic barbs about men

Women asked why the US chip giant is capitulating to men in China, where feminist attitudes are on the rise

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Comedian Yang Li is cheered by women and jeered by men, who feel insulted by her sharp barbs directed at them. She was featured in a recent Intel ad in China until it pulled the video over a backlash from male netizens. Photo: YouTube / Tencent Video

Celia Chen

Published: 12:00am, 24 Mar 2021Updated: 10:21am, 24 Mar 2021

After removing a laptop advertisement featuring the popular stand-up comedian Yang Li, semiconductor giant Intel is having a hard time pleasing both men and women who say the US firm is guilty of sexism – but for different reasons.

Yang, 29, is known in China for her piercing jokes targeting men. An ad posted last Thursday to the microblogging platform Sina Weibo and Taobao, the e-commerce platform owned by Alibaba Group Holding, parent company of the South China Morning Post, played on Yang’s reputation.

“Intel has a taste for laptops that is higher than my taste for men,” Yang quipped in the video.

A backlash from male users quickly ensued, with some asking why Intel was trying to promote a laptop by insulting the very customers they believed were more likely to purchase the product. Others called for a boycott.

By Sunday, Intel had removed the ad, but that did not quell the controversy. Women charged Intel with appeasing fragile male egos.

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Norah Yang: introducing stand-up comedy to China

Arguments erupted under the latest post on Intel China’s Weibo account, attracting 23,000 comments – much higher than previous posts that rarely hit 100 comments.