Lazada apologises for ‘offensive’ TikTok advert
E-commerce platform Lazada issued an apology on Friday for allowing a TikTok clip created by two controversial influencers to be used for its sales campaign.
The clip posted on Wednesday had been created by influencers Nara Aniwat and Thidaporn “Nurat” Chaokuwiang to promote the platform for clothes shopping. The video depicts a woman in a wheelchair being bullied by another character of noble birth sparked an uproar on the net.
The #BanLazada hashtag became top trending on Thai Twitter by Thursday night, with many netizens slamming Lazada for mocking disabled people. Many royalists also threatened to remove the Lazada app because they found it offensive to the Royals.
Lazada responded on Friday morning, saying this was “an unacceptable mistake”.
“We fully recognise that the content was hurtful and demeaning to human dignity. As soon as we became aware of the incident, we immediately demanded the post to be taken down,” the statement said.
“Our brand does not condone the mockery of others including those with disabilities. It is absolutely unacceptable and a breach of Lazada’s value of being respectful and inclusive”
Meanwhile, Intersect Design Factory Co, which had hired the two influencers to promote Lazada’s campaign, said the Nara and Thidaporn had issued a public apology and taken responsibility.
Lazada, meanwhile, said this content had obviously not gone through the proper vetting process, otherwise “it would never have been published as it is against our values and principles”.
Meanwhile, the Advertising Association of Thailand also released a statement on Friday saying all marketing content should be released in line with the following principles:
- All ads should be legal, honourable, honest and present facts
- Ads must not go against morality and social rules, while those creating the advertisement must be responsible and under fair competition.
- Consumers should not have a negative reaction or doubt the advertisement.
The association reiterated that advertisements should not be irresponsible, instigate anti-social actions, be disrespectful to human dignity, insulting to any individual or group, or be discriminatory. It added that consumers have the right to drop any product or brand that relies on offensive advertising and that the association will also drop the creators of that ad.
