Dolce & Gabbana, a history of PR disasters
It was to be an epic
fashion show unlike any other. 500 looks, a Hollywood-calibre production,
the ultimate East meets West extravaganza where Dolce & Gabbana take
Shanghai. The multi million euro event, which has taken months to plan, was
unceremoniously canceled after a backlash to a series of D&G ads of which
users accused the Italian brand of harbouring Chinese stereotypes.
While it was no doubt intended to be tongue in cheek, a brand the size of
Dolce should know when to exercise humour and when to err on the side of
caution.
The controversial ads depict a beautiful Chinese woman, bedazzled in D&G
jewellery, using chopsticks to eat pizza, spaghetti, and an oversized
pastry called cannoli. She awkwardly struggles at times, reports Quartz,
and in the cannoli video the narrator asks the giggling actress in Chinese,
“Is it too huge for you?” Dolce & Gabbana labeled the series “Eating with
Chopsticks,” and tagged each of the ads with #DGLovesChina and
#DGTheGreatShow.
Obvs, this was going to spark an outrage. Diet Prada, the fashion industry
watchdog on Instagram, was quick to call out the brand for its “offensive
videos on the usage of chopsticks and false stereotype of a people lacking
refinement to understand how to eat foreign foods.”
Furthermore, Stefano Gabbana appeared to have posted offensive comments and
direct messages at several Chinese critics, messages which were screen shot
and also published by Diet Prada. Stefano’s posts were later deleted and
captioned ‘hacked’ and ‘not me’ but the damage had already been done. The
#DGTheGreatShow was officially canceled with a new hashtag appearing;
#DGTheShitShow.
A social media backlash
Social media and fashion industry websites accused the ads of being
outdated, insensitive, and by some, racist, and disrespectful to women.
Dolce & Gabbana deleted the ads on Weibo and Instagram, with a message
expressing gratitude to their friends and guests, who were let down, but
with no apologies for the content of its ads.
Not the first D&G controversy
This isn’t the first public relations fiasco for Dolce & Gabbana in China.
In April last year D&G offended the Chinese after an advertising campaign
shot in Beijing featured only run-down and old neighbourhoods, eschewing
the modern landscape the city is keen to promote. After a public outcry,
the images from its Beijing advertising campaign were removed from Dolce &
Gabbana’s official Weibo account but a boycott for its products is still
circulating on social media.
The situation highlights some of the challenges international brands face
as they try to market to Chinese shoppers and do more business in the
country. “Western brands seeking to enter and expand in China should be
aware of Chinese cultural sensibilities,” Angelica Cheung, the
editor-in-chief of Vogue China, told WWD. “Instead of dictating everything
from head office, they would gain a lot from listening to the opinions and
insights of their Chinese teams.”
#BoycottDolceGabbana 2015
One of the brand’s most memorable pr disasters happened in 2015 when when
the design duo was interviewed by Italian magazine, Panorama. In it, they
declared their opposition to gay couples adopting children or using IVF.
Gabbana said, “I call children of chemistry synthetic children: Rented
uterus, semen chosen from a catalogue. The family is not a fad. In it there
is a supernatural sense of belonging.”
High profile celebrities, including Elton John and Glee executive producer
Ryan Murphy, responded to boycott the brand, not least because Mr Dolce and
Mr Gabbana are themselves gay too, but mostly for the brand’s
narrow-mindedness in an age of tolerance and inclusivity.
#BoycottDolceGabbana 2012
In 2012, a Facebook-organized protest of D&G in Hong Kong was spurred after
a security guard prevented locals from taking photographs outside of its
flagship in Tsim Sha Tsui. The man in question was told told by a security
guard that only mainland Chinese or foreign tourists were allowed to take
photos outside the store, a story which broke on Jing Daily. Again, racism
was cited at its roots.
Tax evasion
As far back as 2011 Dolce & Gabbana were charged with tax fraud, a grey
cloud that hung over the silver-lined brand for several years. In 2013 the
pair was fined 343 million euros for tax evasion after they “funnelled
their company’s profits through a holding company in Luxembourg to avoid
paying Italy’s corporate tax rate,” according to Tax Back.
View this post on Instagram#DGlovesChina ? More like #DGdesperateforthatChineseRMB lol. In a bid to further appeal to luxury’s covetable Chinese consumers, @dolcegabbana released some hella offensive “instructional” videos on the usage of chopsticks. Pandering at it’s finest, but taken up a notch by painting their target demographic as a tired and false stereotype of a people lacking refinement/culture to understand how to eat foreign foods and an over-the-top embellishment of cliché ambient music, comical pronunciations of foreign names/words, and Chinese subtitles (English added by us), which begs the question—who is this video actually for? It attempts to target China, but instead mocks them with a parodied vision of what modern China is not…a gag for amusement. Dolce & Gabbana have already removed the videos from their Chinese social media channels, but not Instagram. Stefano Gabbana has been on a much-needed social media cleanse (up until November 2nd), so maybe he kept himself busy by meddling with the marketing department for this series. Who wants to bet the XL cannoli “size” innuendos were his idea? Lmao. • #dolceandgabbana #altamoda #rtw #dgmillennials #stefanogabbana #shanghai #chinese #italian #cannoli #meme #wtf #dumb #lame #chopsticks #foodie #tutorial #cuisine #italianfood #asianmodel #asian #chinesefood #dietprada
There is a lesson for luxury brands
Luxury brands cannot afford to be tone-deaf. Fighting a branding crisis in
the world’s largest luxury market is no picnic, but thus far D&G have
failed to be authentically apologetic. The company would do well to
acknowledge its mistakes and listen to its customers and social media
commentary.The pseudo apology issued by D&G about their account being hacked was an
unsatisfactory response to most users. One commented: “As a big brand, you
guys still fail to make a sincere apology after all these days. China has
risen, and it’s no longer a place for you to simply take our money and
leave without showing respect.” Another commented: “Please go away from
China market, we don’t welcome you.”Mostly users posted poop emojis, referencing the alleged conversation in
which Gabbana used the same emojis to describe China, as posted by Diet
Prada.The furor will inevitably die down, but as China is responsible for a third
of global luxury spending, no brand, big or small, can afford to be
tone-deaf, let alone risk a boycott of its products.Photo credit: Dolce & Gabbana, source D&G social media