But sir, this week Dettol's name is in the headlines in China not for killing any germ, but for spreading a huge 'raita' itself! The story goes like this that Dettol had made an advertisement. The aim was noble to attack the bad thinking of men. But brother, the arrow went in such a wrong direction that it targeted Dettol itself! The advertisement turned out to be so vulgar and controversial that crores of people in China got angry and said in one voice, enough is enough! Dettol no-entry in our house from now on! Look at the interesting thing... the company whose entire business is to clean the stains and dirt from all over the world, today is trying its best to clean this 'advertising stain' of its own, but is failing. So what did Dettol show that the people of China became 'anti-Dettol'? Let us do an MRI scan of the case and understand from the beginning what is the matter!
What was there in Dettol's ad that created an uproar?
The matter is about a 5-minute video ad which Dettol had posted on its social media account in China at the end of last month. This was not a common ad. It was made in China's very popular micro drama style, i.e. a small dramatic story like a mini web series. Now the hero of this story is a young man. In the beginning, he breaks up with his girlfriend just because he finds out that the girl has previously lived with someone else. He calls her tainted by other men. He then sets out in search of a girl who is, in his words, pure, untouched. Which has not been touched by anyone else. He boasts to his friends that he will be his future wife's first man. Even the ad is extremely objectionable and the company claims that all this was placed deliberately so that in the end this thinking could be exposed. There is a twist in the last part of the ad. His new girlfriend shows him the mirror. She calls him toxic and breaks the relationship. This is the time in the video when the real message of Dettol comes out that such poisonous men are actually like germs and one can get peace only by getting rid of them. In one scene of the ad, the girl puts her old boyfriend's clothes in the washing machine. Along with Dettol sanitizer, it washes away that thinking like other germs. Meaning, the intention of the ad was to take a dig at this dirty thinking of men. But exactly the opposite happened. The problem was that the first 4 minutes of the ad were so vulgar and anti-women that it stuck in people's minds. No one could handle the final twist or people did not accept it. On top of that, small pieces of this ad went viral on the internet, only those parts in which the man is saying dirty things about women separately.
What did Dettol say in its defense?
The brand apologized and stated its purpose was to protest and criticize gender stereotypes; However, some excerpts that later spread online misrepresented its main message. On June 22, Dettol said in a statement: We recognize that this has hurt many people, especially women. We take responsibility for any negligence in creating and reviewing ad content. The brand said citing its mission of "protecting the health of families, but we know very well that the real safety also lies in protecting the dignity of every individual and their right to be treated equally. Dettol ensured that it will review its content moderation process. The company acknowledged that the language of the ad was inappropriate and they were negligent in checking it. Dettol also said that their objective has always been to protect the health of families. But the real safety is It also means protecting the dignity and equality of every human being. The company assured that it will re-establish its content moderation system.
How did advertising become a bone of contention?
At present, such a volcano of anger has erupted against Dettol on Chinese social media platforms like Weibo and Rednote that people are directly calling this company beyond hope and worthless. One user wrote angrily, such a poor advertisement! I am stunned after seeing this. Another asked, was the senior management of this company sleeping? Dettol is closed from now on, anyway there are many other brands in the market. People are calling this advertisement 'poison' for the mind, and many could not bear it for more than two minutes. Actually, Dettol made great efforts from its side to resolve this dispute, but the anger of the Chinese people is not subsiding. People say that the first few lines of the advertisement were so insensitive and insulting towards women that no matter what twist came next, it would not have made any difference. Manya Coetse, who keeps an eye on China's digital trends, has also called this entire campaign a 'big junk'. He sarcastically said that the brand whose entire business is based on cleanliness, in order to show the wrong viewpoint of a man, made such a mess of its own message that the tables were turned completely. The result is that today the people of China are demanding to boycott this brand completely! On June 22, Internet industry watchdog Liu Dingding told the Global Times that the ad is a classic form of exploitative marketing, deliberately promoting gender discrimination in order to grab people's attention and go viral. Liu further said that a good brand should focus on both building its identity among the people and maintaining a good image. Sadly, some companies today want to grab people's attention at all costs, regardless of brand reputation - which shows a huge decline in their corporate values. Such marketing is absolutely wrong and spoils the environment of communication between people. Now is the time for the concerned companies to improve their wrong communication strategies. However, this is not the first time Dettol has made such a mess in China. Last year, the company was embroiled in another controversy after an advertisement featured the line: "The woman was turned away just before the wedding; this may have been because she was not clean.
Dettol was in discussion in China earlier also
It is important to make one thing clear here because in many places it is being presented as Dettol ban. The truth is that Dettol brand has not been banned in China. This has not been banned by any government order. All that has happened is that after huge protests, the company itself has removed its ad and apologized and the appeal for boycott has intensified among the people. That means the ban has been imposed not by the government but by the public out of anger. Although this is not the first time. According to the reports of BBC and Malai Mail, even in the year 2025, an ad of Dettol had come into controversy in China. In which there was talk of a woman being sent back just before her marriage with the hint that perhaps she was not clean. That means, same kind of thinking, same kind of controversy, another time. Experts are looking at it in two ways. Journalist Manya Kos, who keeps an eye on China's digital media, runs the Eye on Digital China newsletter. She tells the BBC that even though the company's intention was to show the man was wrong, the message was delivered in such a crude way that the whole thing backfired. While talking to Global Time, an industry expert said that this is a well-known marketing tactic. Deliberately teasing a sensitive issue so that it attracts more attention and the video goes viral. According to him, such action brings some temporary buzz but causes serious damage to the brand's reputation.
