A Swiss manufacturer of watches issued an apology and “immediately removed” advertising that reportedly offended Chinese audiences.
Swatch posted a message on Instagram and the Chinese social media site, Weibo, apologizing for an ad that had featured an Asian model ” pulling the corners of his eyes,” according to The Guardian.
The U.K. outlet published a screenshot of the ad where the model is wearing an orange watch from Swatch’s “ESSENTIALS” collection.
“We have taken note of the recent concerns regarding the portrayal of a model in images for the Swatch ESSENTIALS Collection. We treat this matter with the utmost importance and have immediately removed all related materials worldwide,” Swatch noted in the post on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
“We sincerely apologize for any distress or misunderstanding this may have caused,” the post read.
But the apology was not well-received.
#Swatch issued a public apology on social media after a ‘slanted-eye’ image sparked outrage in China. The offensive image has since been removed. pic.twitter.com/AhSnzn7VBU
— Shanghai Daily (@shanghaidaily) August 16, 2025
“I can’t believe that such a large watch company could make such a careless mistake,” one comment on Instagram read. “You should not bring discrimination against Asians into your product posters. This will only cause you to lose more Asian customers and bring no benefit. This cannot be forgiven.”
Calls for a boycott of the Swatch Group brands, which include Blancpain, Longines, and Tissot, continued despite the apology and removal of the ad, especially with users in China, one of the company’s largest markets.
“A Weibo user with more than 1 million followers accused the company of ‘racism against Chinese’ and suggested it should be punished by regulators,” The Guardian reported. “Others accused Swatch of deliberate discrimination and urged consumers to boycott the company.”
The company experienced a 7.1 percent decline in sales for the first half of 2025, according to Reuters.
“The decline in sales is exclusively attributable to China,” the company said in a July statement.
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Author: Frieda Powers
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