A road safety ad from China came under massive fire because it was said to be racist and mocking toward Indians.
The video of the advertisement had Chinese men in brownface, dressed in turbans and exaggeratedly colourful costumes singing the popular Daler Mehendi song and all this was seen as an insensitive caricature of Indians by several people online.
What Was The Ad About?
The video featured Hao Ge Ge or Brother Hao, a popular Chinese comedian who has often carried out these parodies and was first posted on Bilibili a video-sharing platform on May 6th 2023.
The video also used Daler Mehndi’s 1998 song Tunak Tunak Tun and seemed to be a spoof around that concept only. The Ministry of Public Security of China afterward picked this up and turned it into a road safety campaign as a way to speak about the importance of wearing helmets and seatbelts.
The ad was shared by the Bureau of Public Order, a branch of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) a few days ago on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
The platform is akin to China’s version of Twitter and was said to be a road safety ad with the caption “Reminder from the police: You should fasten your seat belt even when you are sitting at the back of a car. Always remember when you ride a motorbike, don’t hit the road without a helmet!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-1DAk4uYuM
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Several people then shared the video on platforms other than Weibo, mainly Twitter and YouTube which is where it caught the eye of Indian netizens.
Once it did, it seemed some people did not find it particularly funny and called it out for promoting stereotypes and mocking Indians.
Columnist and analyst Aadil Brar shared the video to it on his Twitter writing “You can’t make this up! The official account of the Ministry of Public Security (Chinese police) has used the video of blackfaced Chinese performers who make videos while dancing to Bollywood tunes to teach people about road safety”.
He further added that “It’s like someday FBI woke up and started sharing racist videos of Chinese drivers wearing a qipao”.
One Twitter user commented how “China is inadvertently making mockery of itself rather than India in these videos. However, it’s quite racist to repeatedly use this template for such purpose. When one puts down others like this, it’s often an expression of their deeply rooted inferiority complex”.
The Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS) eventually removed the video from online platforms after all the backlash.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Firstpost, Business Today, Moneycontrol
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This post is tagged under: China racist ad, China racist ad india, china mock india, china road safety ad, china ministry of public security, Daler Mehndi song, Daler Mehndi song Tunak tunak Tun
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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