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The ad from China is a parody of on an Italian TVC titled 'Colored is better'. It follows the exact same inappropriate use of humor, and both use, xenophobia and racist cultural stereotyping prevalent in both countries.
In the Italian commercial the husband is a slimy slob guy who walks into the laundry room in his skivvies looking at his wife with lust. The wife turns slimy guy into muscled Black guy.
In the Chinese commercial which is more directly racist they 'clean' the Black guy whilst reinforcing the deeply embedded xenophobia, and racism: "If they were more like us"
I work in Advertising, and have worked on TVC's in both of these markets. This is lowest common denominator work, but I am sure both spots were extensively tested and following airing both brands saw a strong impact in sales because sadly both of these spots play into very firmly entrenched racist ideas in both Italian and Chinese society. I just returned from a TVC for a well known brand that was made in Europe for air in several countries, both inside and outside the EU. The film includes a scene with a high school Basketball team. When the client saw my casting he said 'No Black players'. Two weeks later I'm still really disappointed in myself for not walking off the job.
I'm glad something as incredibly offensive as this would never be allowed to air in our society.
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