Swatch apologizes, and withdraws a “Slanted Eye” advertising campaign amid a violent reaction – National

Swiss brand Swach It has released an apology and withdrew a recent advertising campaign after the condemnation of customers in China with pictures, which they say has combined a “telegram”, a racist gesture.

In a picture of the Swatch Essentials group, a model of Asian males is shown as it pulls the edges of its eyelids up and back with its fingers – a procedure that is widely seen as insulting and racist discrimination against the Asian people.

The company withdrew the international campaign from all its platforms on Monday, Writing on Instagram“We honestly apologize for any distress or misunderstanding that may cause this.”

“We are dealing with this issue with the utmost importance and we immediately removed all relevant materials around the world.”

The apology was also published on the Chinese social network in Chinese and English, according to Associated Press.

Some people were not affected by the efforts of Swinch to make an amendment.

“I cannot believe that this big watch company can make such a neglected mistake.” “Do not bring discrimination against Asians to your product stickers. This will only lead to the loss of more Asian customers and no benefit. This cannot be forgiven.”

Another person wrote, “This gesture has been used to discriminate against all Asians (not only Chinese, and therefore not the controversy of” China only “) for decades, and it is knowledge that these are limits that should not be crossed.”

According to Reuters, Swatch, which also makes Omega, Longens and Tissot watches, is about 27 percent of its collective sales from China, Hong Kong and Macau. After the events on Monday, the shares fell to 2.7 percent, but since then, I went.

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This is only the latest in a series of challenges for a Swiss Watch brand, including a flagrant decrease in the value of the arrow. The shares have decreased by about half since 2023, and the company’s situation has exacerbated by a 39 percent tariff on exports to the United States, which was carried out by President Donald Trump.

Watchmaker’s revenue decreased by 14.6 percent to 6.74 billion Swiss francs ($ 8.4 billion) in 2024, partly due to a lower demand in China, where Swinch said it is witnessing “difficult market conditions continuously and poor demand for consumer goods in general.”

Peter Show, a fashion influence in China with more than seven million Weibo followers, said he believed that the controversy will affect Swatch’s works in China, but given the speed of apology, it is possible that the repercussions are relatively short.

“It was stupid to issue pictures like that,” he said.

– With files from the Associated Press and Reuters

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