Chinese cotton product brand Purcotton has pulled its latest ad following severe backlash from social media over suggestions it “demonised” sexual assault victims.
The advertisement showed a woman walking down a dark street at night followed by a man in a mask. As the man approaches her, the woman uses a Purcotton wipe to remove her make-up, and the would-be attacker appears to be horrified and runs away.
It’s unclear when the ad was first released, however, social media users in China have caused a massive online stir, claiming the ad victim-blames, while also labeling it “disgusting” and “wrong”.
You can watch the ad below.
One user on Weibo, China’s Twitter platform, said: “You use what scares women the most for an advertisement, which is beyond comprehension and unacceptable.”
Purcotton originally defended the ad as a creative way to advertise the “cleaning function of the product,” but as social media users started calling for consumers to boycott the company, it removed the ad from its accounts and issued an apology.
“We have set up a team to hold people to account for the problem and, in the meantime, we will improve content production and the review process to prevent similar incidents from happening again,” the company’s post said.
