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Swatch pulls 'slanted eye' advert after online backlash in China
The Guardian
|August 19, 2025
The Swiss watchmaker Swatch has apologised and removed an advert featuring a model pulling the corners of his eyes, after the image prompted accusations of racism and calls for a boycott on Chinese social media.
Internet users heavily criticised the "slanted eye" gesture made by the male Asian model as racist. In a post on Instagram and the Chinese social media platform Weibo on Saturday, Swatch acknowledged the "recent concerns regarding the portrayal of a model" in the advert and said it had deleted the promotional material worldwide.
"We sincerely apologise for any distress or misunderstanding this may have caused," the company wrote.
This story is from the August 19, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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