Fastfood company McDonald’s has withdrawn a commercial which some consumers in China found insulting, according to the Xinhua news agency.
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The advertisement showed a Chinese man kneeling before a vendor and begging him to accept his expired discount coupon, but being refused, the agency said. It went on on to say people don’t have to worry about McDonald’s coupons expiring, since their validity lasts for a whole year.
Many cities which had showed the commercial stopped screening it on Tuesday, including Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Tianjin, Xiamen and Xi’an. “We were informed of stopping the screening of the ad, without being given a reason,” said a woman surnamed Sun at a Shanghai TV station.
“What a shame that the commercial portrayed Chinese consumers as willing bend to such a petty interest,” said a lady surnamed Yuan, who complained to a consumer’s petition hotline.
McDonald’s China branch faxed domestic media a statement saying it just wanted to be humorous, the agency said.
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By GlobalDataWang Yunsaid, a representative from McDonald’s Henan province branch said the advertisement had been approved by the authorities.
A staff member at the commercial’s certification organization, China Advertising Association, Qiu Xiaolian, said they asked Mcdonald’s to cut the kneeling during the inspection procedure. However, their request has no legal power because the association is a non-government organization.
“It obviously broke China’s advertisement law,” said Xia Yunping, an official in the administration of industry and commerce in Xi’an, the capital of central China’s Shannxi province,without identifying which one.
