By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-06-24 03:56:45 | Updated at 2026-06-24 05:05:06
1 hour ago
British hygiene brand Dettol has apologised after an advertising campaign attempting to call out sexism backfired in China, sparking angry calls of boycott from Chinese consumers.
A five-minute advertisement to promote a laundry disinfectant was released across multiple online platforms at the end of May.
The advertisement, styled as one of China’s hugely popular micro-dramas, opens with a man declaring he wants a woman who is “clean” and “untouched by other men” - remarks which drew outrage online for objectifying women.
The man in the micro-drama found a girlfriend but in a plot twist, she calls him out for his “toxic” misogyny and breaks up with him.
Dettol is then presented as the solution against “toxic men (who) are just like bacteria”.
The online reactions came fast and furious, with many describing the advertising as “vulgar” and questioned how the clip passed internal reviews before being released.
Many critics have also taken issue with the advertisment’s apparent comparison between a person’s “purity” and the disinfecting effectiveness of Dettol products.
“I stop watching after just two minutes. The video is toxic to people’s minds,” wrote a netizen on Instagram-like Xiaohongshu app.
Another wrote on microblogging site Weibo: “Dettol seems to be exploiting attention-grabbing themes to draw traffic, while trivialising women’s experiences and turning women’s ‘awakening’ into entertainment.”
By June 21, the advertisment had been removed.
In a statement on June 22, Dettol said the advertisement was produced by a third-party agency and had intended to challenge gender stereotypes, but acknowledged that snippets shared online had distorted its message and fuelled misunderstanding.
“We recognise that it has offended many people, especially women. We take responsibility for any negligence in creating and reviewing the content of the advert,” it said, as reported by the BBC.
Dettol added it will review its content moderation process.
Liu Dingding, an internet industry observer told state-run news outlet Global Times on June 22 that Dettol’s campaign is a classic exploitative marketing tactic aimed at “deliberately” stoking gender division - all for the purpose of chasing viral traffic and grabbing attention.
Liu said from a pure marketing perspective, the move delivered an “impressive” exposure, but it also triggered widespread public outrage, which may result in severe reputational damage.
Lawyer Lin Feiran told domestic media that the advertisement may violate China’s Advertising Law, which prohibits advertisements that contravene accepted social values or contain gender-discriminatory content.
He said the company could face a fine of up to 1 million yuan (S$191,054) and potentially have its business licence revoked.
He added the advertisement may also contravene the Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests, which prohibits content that demeans or harms women’s dignity.
The latest controversy is not Dettol’s first in China.
The brand, which is owned by British consumer goods company Reckitt, attracted widespread criticism in 2025 for an advertisement featuring the line: “The woman was ‘returned’ just before her wedding; it must be because she was not clean.”
