Sense And Cultural Sensitivity

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.