Last month, The Ivy Asia offered a formal apology following the backlash caused by its ‘culturally insensitive’ and ‘inappropriate’ advertising campaign, which triggered outrage from critics and the public.
The campaign featured a now-deleted social media video with two characters dressed as Geishas in humiliating situations, culminating in a scene where they fall through restaurant doors in front of a judgmental crowd. The video was widely shared on social media, with many condemning it as racist and perpetuating anti-Asian stereotypes. In response, The Ivy Asia said it was done “naively” and with a “complete ignorance of understanding”.
The challenge here is that regardless of the sincerity of the apology, the harm has already been done. Viewers were exposed to blatant racial stereotyping, further reinforcing the unconscious biases they’ve developed over their lifetimes – biases that exist both overtly and covertly around us.
