A German advert is being slammed for its “racist, sexist” and “disgusting” portrayal of Asian women.
MSN reports that a German advert has come under fire for portraying Asian women in a racist and sexist manner.
German DIY store Hornbach has defended its advert, which it claims shows a “discourse on the increasing urbanization.”
In the 46-second advert, a group of white men are seen doing garden work. They remove all of their sweaty clothing and place it in a box. The clothes are then vacuum packed and sent over to an Asian city.
An Asian woman is seen buying one of the packages of dirty clothes, opens it and inhales the scent. She rolls her eyes back in pleasure whilst the sound of an aroused woman moaning in pleasure is played in the background.
The ad was slammed on social media with one user calling it “racist, disgusting” and “sexist”.
“The Asian woman is represented as a mere tool to make the white male customers feel better about themselves,” wrote Twitter user Sung Un Gang.
Asian women have since been using the hashtag #Ich_wurde_gehornbacht to share their stories of discrimination in Germany.
Despite a petition that has garnered over 1,500 signatures for the Hornbach to pull the ad, the German company has defended its ad.
“Our ad is not racist,” the company wrote on Twitter. “View the ad as a discourse on the increasing urbanization and decreasing quality of life in cities. The smell of the spring only available in vending machines. For everyone. Not only asian people.”
Und wie riecht Dein Frühjahr? pic.twitter.com/aHa10GjUBK
— Hornbach (@Hornbach_tweets) March 15, 2019
Our ad is not racist. View the ad as a discourse on the increasing urbanization and decreasing quality of life in cities. The smell of the spring only available in vending machines. For everyone. Not only asian people. pic.twitter.com/aKgUf2TKWf
— Hornbach (@Hornbach_tweets) March 26, 2019
