'Tainted by other men': Why Dettol apologised after an advert in China

Dettol, a British hygiene brand, has found itself at the centre of controversy in China. Its advert in China is accused of objectifying women and reinforcing outdated gender stereotypes.

The advertisement, which aired nationally, was supposed to call out gender bias, but instead it backfired, with Chinese netizens now calling for a boycott. The brand has apologised while clarifying its well-meaning theme. It also immediately pulled the video offline following the uproar that led to boycott calls.

We take a look.

What's Dettol's controversial ad?

The short-drama-style advertisement lasts about five minutes, according to snippets from screen recordings shared by online users. The advert tells the story of an intimate romantic relationship in which a male character breaks up with his girlfriend after learning of her prior cohabitation.

He ends the relationship by calling her girlfriend "tainted by other men." "No wonder you're so experienced — someone else trained you before, and I can have past relationships, but my future wife must not," the male character allegedly says in the advert.

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After uttering these offensive lines, he then praises his new girlfriend: "I'm lucky to have met this girl; she's pure and untainted by other men. It's not easy to find such an innocent girl."

The main twist comes late in the ad, when his new girlfriend calls him out for his misogyny and toxicity, and breaks up with him. She also allegedly compares him to "bacteria" that need to be cleaned up.

The advertisement then presents Dettol as a remedy for "toxic men, who are just like bacteria."

The ad drew fierce criticism on the Chinese internet for showing women's past romantic experiences as "contaminated" or "unclean," whereas excusing men's previous romantic relations as acceptable.

What Dettol has said in its defence

The brand apologised and explained the intent behind it: to counter and criticise gender stereotypes; however, excerpts that later circulated online distorted its core message.

On Monday (June 22), Dettol said in a statement: "We recognise that it has offended many people, especially women. We take responsibility for any negligence in creating and reviewing the content of the advert."

The brand outlined its mission "to protect the families' health," adding, "but we are well aware that true protection also lies in safeguarding the dignity of every individual and their right to be treated equally."

Dettol ensured that it would review its content moderation processes.

A hopeless company: How an advert backfired

Despite Dettol's several attempts to correct the biased viewpoint, the advert angered many across Chinese social platforms for comparing a person's "purity" with Dettol's sanitising capabilities.

A user wrote on Weibo, China's X-like platform: "What a trashy advertisement. It's left me speechless."

"What a hopeless company. What is their senior management doing?" read another comment. "I'm never using Dettol again. There are so many brands in the market after all," the BBC quoted a user saying.

"I quit watching after just two minutes. The video is toxic to people's minds," an internet user wrote on Xiaohongshu, known in English as RedNote.

"No matter what plot twist comes later, the release of those opening lines shows total disregard and disrespect for women," another user blasted Dettol, according to Global Times.

"I'm calling for a boycott. This brand leaves a disgusting taste," another angry user wrote.

Manya Koetse, who runs the Eye on Digital China newsletter, called the campaign "quite a mess," adding, "a brand whose entire business revolves around cleanliness".

"Even if the intention was to portray the male character as being in the wrong, the message was conveyed so poorly that it backfired spectacularly," she said, as reported by the BBC.

On Monday (June 22), Liu Dingding, an internet industry observer, told the Global Times, describing the advert as a "classic exploitative marketing tactic" that deliberately attempts to "stoke gender division just to grab public eyeballs and chase viral traffic."

"A good brand needs to pursue both visibility and positive public goodwill. Regrettably, some companies today blindly seek attention at all costs, disregarding brand reputation - a reflection of deeply warped corporate values. Such marketing is utterly inappropriate and poisons public discourse. It is high time for relevant enterprises to overhaul their flawed communication strategies," Liu added.

However, it was not the first time that Dettol made such a mess in China. Last year, it reportedly courted another controversy after featuring a line in the advertisement: "The woman was 'returned' just before her wedding; it must be because she was not clean."

With inputs from agencies