(KRON) — A Chinese firm responsible for a seemingly racist laundry detergent ad that went viral over the weekend has issued an apology — sort of.
The shocking laundry detergent advertisement shows black man covered in paint flirting with a Chinese woman. The woman calls the man over, shoves a detergent gel pack into his mouth, then crams him into a washing machine. A moment later, the black man emerges from the washer as a light-skinned Chinese man.
The ad agency apologized for the controversial video but said that audiences and the media are overreacting.
“[Due to] the harm that has been caused to members of the ethnic African communities as a result of the advertisement’s circulation and the over-dramatization by the public opinion, we hereby express our apology and sincerely hope that the internet users as well as media will not over-analyze,” the company said in a statement. “We strongly oppose and condemn racial discrimination.”
The video was posted to YouTube on Thursday by photographer Benoit Florençon and has since garnered over 8 million views.
Sound off: Are people exaggerating their reaction to the video?