Swatch China ‘slant eyes’ ad pulled amid accusations it was racist and reinforcing negative stereotypes as the internet debates whether the ad was in fact racist or not?
Swiss watchmaker Swatch has come under fire over its China ad campaign amid accusations that the watch maker has reinforced stereotypical tropes that demean Asian people.
The watch maker who was widely condemned on social media and in China took down its ad ‘worldwide’ along with issuing an apology.
In an image for the Swatch Essentials collection, an Asian male model is shown pulling the edges of his eyelids upward and backward with his fingers, a gesture seen as derogatory and racist, Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported.
WATCH: Swiss watchmaker Swatch issued an apology at the weekend and pulled ads featuring images of an Asian male model pulling the corners of his eyes up and backwards in a ‘slanted eye’ pose https://t.co/VWMIxx89Z0 pic.twitter.com/CLorGJh9kW
— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) August 18, 2025
Swatch China ‘slant eyes’ ad; much about nothing?
Swatch wrote on Instagram that ‘we sincerely apologize for any distress or misunderstanding this may have caused,’ adding it would ‘treat this matter with the utmost importance.’
SRF reported that the apology was also posted on the Chinese social network Weibo in Chinese and English. Not everyone was satisfied with the brand’s mea culpa, leading to calls for a boycott, according to CBS News.
The faux pas, which many believe wasn’t intentional and merely an oversight and perhaps an attempt to be kitsch led to debate on social media.
‘I don’t get why clear racism against Asians [is] constantly being tolerated and normalized,’ one detractor wrote in the Instagram comments. ‘If this happened to any other racial minority group this would definitely not be tolerated.’
But not everyone thought the ad was meant to demean and demean Asians but perhaps just playfully poke fun, keeping in mind, China makes over 50% of its sales.
Wrote one user on X, ‘As an Asian, I genuinely find this quite funny.’
Wrote another, ‘Distress? Weak world! Weak people!’
Contemplated another, ‘Ridiculous reaction to a nothing advert. What is wrong with people?’
While another user wondered to think how and if the ad was indeed racist.
