'What do women taste like?' IWD ads in China trigger outcry and immediate deletion

An athleisure brand in China has immediately deleted its IWD campaign on socials after netizens expressed anger over the ad's main tagline “Shut Up this 38 (IWD)”. Meanwhile, a Chinese food brand has also removed its IWD campaign from socials after netizens questioned why it featured the phrase "What do women taste like?".

This came as Chinese athleisure brand Maia Active released its IWD campaign on Chinese social media on 8 March. The ad featured a phrase “Shut Up this 38” (這個38，閉嘴巴), as well as suggesting that “extreme feminism is not a good idea". The ad also said that keeping women's mouths shut is a kind of courtesy and contemplation. 

The campaign then drew heated discussions across Chinese social platforms, with some netizens complaining about being admonished after buying the brand's products, while some suggested the brand to switch to selling men's sportswear, a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw on Weibo. The brand then deleted the campaign ad within that day. 

Meanwhile, a Chinese food brand Haohuanluo(好歡螺), has also removed its IWD campaign from socials after netizens questioned why the brand came up with the phrase "What do women taste like?" (女性，是什麼味道?).

The campaign has triggered public outcry on WeChat where some netizens asked if the brand intentionally posted the ad, a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw. The brand's spokesperson replied that the original intention of the ad was to promote that women were not defined and every woman shines in their own way. The spokesperson added that the ad has been taken down for internal review. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Maia Active and Haohuanluo for a statement.

(Photo courtesy: Yaling Jiang's Twitter)

Related articles:

Hersheys' IWD campaign featuring transwoman leads to backlash
'Ads should rely less on outdated and demeaning stereotypes,' say HK female adland creatives this IWD
Watsons embraces equity with regional empowerment campaign for IWD
Charles & Keith features bullied teenager as face of IWD ad campaign