Fallout from the controversy has been swift and harsh. Celebrities called for a boycott; Chinese e-commerce sites pulled D&G products from their virtual shelves; the brand canceled a major fashion show in Shanghai that the video ads were designed to promote.
In November Italian luxury fashion house Dolce Gabbana posted a series of short video advertisements on social media. The first video featured a Chinese model in a sequined red dress trying to eat pizza, not without failing, with chopsticks. Stereotypical Chinese music plays in the background as she pokes at the pizza with chopsticks, a narrator chimes in patronizing fashion says that she shouldn’t attempt to use the chopsticks as knives, instead the chopsticks should be used as pliers.
In the follow-up videos the same model is seen trying to eat a cannoli and a bowl of spaghetti. At one point, the narrator appeares to mispronounce the brand’s name, which some interpret as a dig at the way Chinese people pronounce “Dolce & Gabbana”. The backlash came in swift on Chinese social media, with thousands of Weibo users complaining that the videos were racist and insulted Chinese culture.
This story is from the December 2018 edition of Shoes and Accessories.
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This story is from the December 2018 edition of Shoes and Accessories.
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