Dolce & Gabbana China show cancelled after 'racist' ad outrage

Global fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana cancelled  a fashion show in Shanghai, China, after being accused of posting a racist promotional commercial on their Instagram account.

According  to CNN, three videos that were posted on the brand's social media accounts show an Asian model struggling to eat pizza, a cannoli and a bowl of spaghetti with chopsticks. 

The videos sparked outrage on Twitter and Instagram, with people posting anti-Dolce & Gabbana pictures and memes with the caption "Not me". This after a screenshot of Stefano Gabbana using the "poop" emoji to describe China was leaked. 

Dolce & Gabbana released a statement on Instagram, claiming that the brand as well as Stefano Gabbana's accounts were hacked and unauthorised content was uploaded.

Dolce & Gabbana are not the only high-profile brand to come under fire for alleged racist incidents. These brands have also come under the spotlight:

Pepsi and Kendall Jenner 

Pepsi received much backlash after they revealed a protest-themed commercial. In the advert, celebrity and model Kendall Jenner hands over cans of Pepsi to police during the protests. The video sparked outrage on social media with many saying that the ad mocked the social injustice climate in the world, particularly  #BlackLivesMatter. 

Heineken "Lighter is better" 

Alcohol brand Heineken had to pull an advert to promote their new Heineken light beer. The commercial shows a bottle of Heineken light moving past several black people until it reaches the hands of a lighter-skinned woman. The advert ends with the slogan "Sometimes, lighter is better".

Chinese laundry detergent

A laundry detergent commercial in China went viral and sparked outrage. The video shows an Asian woman placing the detergent into a black man's mouth before shoving him into a washing machine. After re-opening the machine, an Asian man emerges in place of the black man. 

Baby Soft and the "passion gap" 

A complaint was filed to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) by Edwina Haas who believed that the Baby Soft toilet paper company portrayed coloured people in "very bad taste" for including a young coloured learner with a "passion gap". 

The commercial features children of different races interacting in a classroom with their teacher. The teacher asks the learners how clean they feel after using the toilet paper and a young coloured boy with a gap in his teeth responds by saying "like brushed teeth".

ASA ruled that there was nothing racist about the advert.

H&M and the monkey 

Global clothing brand Hennes and Mauritz came under fire after featuring a black boy wearing a sweater with the phrase "coolest monkey in the jungle" on their website. Many on social media vowed to boycott the brand.