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Swatch Pulls ‘Slanted Eye’ Ad Following Racism Accusations in China

Swatch has offered a public apology, with global ad removal failing to quell boycott demands

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People walk past a store of Swiss watchmaker Swatch, in Beijing, on August 18, 2025.
FILE - The logo of Swiss watchmaker "Swatch" is pictured on the Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris, France, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, file)
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Overview

  • Swatch issued an apology in Chinese and English on Weibo and Instagram on August 16 and removed the contested images worldwide.
  • The ad featured an Asian male model stretching his eye corners into a ‘slanted eye’ gesture that drew widespread condemnation as a racist depiction.
  • Influencers such as Mei Hua Long_MHL and Nie Hua Xiong amplified boycott calls and urged regulatory scrutiny, arguing the apology fell short.
  • Greater China accounts for roughly 27% of Swatch Group’s sales, and the company saw revenue decline 14.6% to 6.74 billion Swiss francs in 2024 amid weak regional demand.
  • The episode underscores a trend of rapid, social-media-driven boycotts in China over perceived cultural insensitivity and coincided with a modest dip in Swatch shares.