Social media have an amplifying effect on many things, and marketing is one of them. Since it entered the world of influencers, sponsored Instagram posts and online self-promotion, marketing’s strategies acquired powerful tools while becoming more and more exposed to criticism and reproach. Social media can make something trend fast, the videos advertising a product can go viral really easily and boost its sales, but their power work in reverse as well.
This is what happened to Dolce&Gabbana, the Italian luxury brand, that ended up triggering the antonym of a commercial campaign in less than 24 hours. The duo was planning a huge fashion show in Shanghai, probably the biggest one ever organized by the brand, with more than a thousand guests, 360 models, and 120 artists between dancers and actors participating in the event at the Expo Center, a location of 18 thousand square meters.
Of course, the event was highly anticipated by social media, creating an expectation larger than the Great Wall of China. However, a video posted on Instagram provoked a wave of criticism, anger, insults and offenses that threw away days of work and a lot of money in minutes. The controverted video was a three parts spot where a Chinese model, wrapped in an elegant and sophisticated Dolce&Gabbana gown, was trying to eat three typical Italian dishes, pizza, spaghetti and a Sicilian cannolo, with a pair of chopsticks, ultimately failing and embarrassing herself.
Soon the spot received thousands of negative comments accusing the brand of promoting stereotypes that always portray Asian people as dumb and foolish, of being ultimately racist and of lacking common sense. Moreover, the designers were also blamed for being sexist: when the giant cannolo arrives at the model’s table a male voice-over can be heard asking if it won’t be too big for her, making a not even subtle disrespectful sexual allusion.
The indignation was such that Weibo, the biggest Chinese social media, decided to take down the videos. But this was not the end of the polemic. The Instagram account DietPrada, a known page in the fashion business that exposes false copies of luxury items, published the screenshot of a private conversation between Stefano Gabbana and Michaela Tranova, a British associate of the page, in which the designer said that “China is a shitty country” and an “ignorant, dirty and smelly” place, while insulting Weibo for not understanding something that was meant to be funny.
The reaction on social media was strong and even if Gabbana explained his account had been hacked and that it was not him insulting the People’s Republic, the damage was already done. Asian guests of the show were the first ones to cancel their attendance to the show and they were soon followed by technicians, tailors and other workers for the event, making it impossible to happen. Finally, the designers stated that the show had been delayed for an indefinite period, losing around €20 million ($23) that had already been spent in preparation for the show. But the economic damage is not quantifiable yet and the loss is very likely bound to be bigger.
After the boycott of celebrities, models and guests, many Chinese e-commerce platforms, including Tmall, JD.com, Xiaohongshu and Secco, decided to remove the items by the Italian brand online. China is a fundamental market for luxury brands and this is no exception for Dolce&Gabbana, which sold for €1.3 billion ($1.5) in the country last year, the 35% of the brand’s total income. Moreover, 70% of its export goes to China, turning the latest events into a mediatic accident with a dramatic cost. The duo published an apology video in which they were saying how sorry they were and how much they love China, but it could be too late.
The brand is not new to this kind of controversies within its media and communication channels, but it never experienced such a broad and harsh reaction, which was also possible because of the exposing power of social media, that can be a double-edged sword for marketing. As an Italian, did I find the campaign funny? Maybe. Would have I laughed if a Chinese brand that was to do a show in Milan would have advertised it with a campaign filled with loud and sly womanizers and mama’s boys? I don’t think so. This should be a basic marketing class on what never to do, a lesson the designers, despite decades of experience, paid a high price for.
