Commentary: Dettol's 'Toxic Advertisement' — Removing It Is Not Enough

Recently, a dramatic narrative advertisement by cleaning and care brand Dettol contained numerous vulgar expressions and was accused of objectifying women, with a large number of consumers expressing their boycott of the brand on social media.

According to a video posted by netizens, the controversial advertisement was published on Dettol's official WeChat video channel "Dettol Clothing Disinfectant." On June 21, Dettol's official customer service told reporters that the relevant information had been immediately reported internally for verification and would be handled as soon as possible. Upon subsequent checking of the account, the reporter found that the controversial ad video had been removed.

Without a doubt, the content of the advertisement in question is crude and vulgar. It goes beyond mere vulgarity and distastefulness — it demonstrates a fundamental lack of basic ethical awareness. It not only offends the public's simple emotional sensibilities but also affronts women at large, objectifying and degrading the personal dignity of unspecified women. For an advertisement that has provoked such widespread public outrage, its removal is inevitable — but it is not the end of the story. Relevant authorities must seriously deal with the perpetrators behind such a bottomless act.

In this era of information overload, for a product to attract attention and maintain relevance, novelty and creativity are naturally necessary, and many business operators and advertisers spare no effort in this regard. However, the market economy is also an economy governed by the rule of law. When engaging in advertising and marketing, businesses should not merely chase sensationalism and attention-grabbing tactics, but should conform to socialist core values. That is to say, any innovation and creativity must adhere to boundaries and public morality; they must not rely on vulgar, distasteful advertisements that violate public order and good customs to attract eyeballs and gain attention.

In this regard, the Advertising Law clearly stipulates that advertisements must be truthful and lawful, expressing their content in healthy forms of representation, complying with the requirements of building socialist spiritual civilization and promoting the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation. Advertising content must not obstruct public social order or violate good social customs, nor may it contain content that discriminates on the basis of gender. The Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests emphasizes the prohibition of degrading or harming women's dignity through mass media or other means.

Looking at the reports, although the controversial advertisement was labeled as "dramatic reenactment," the values it conveyed were extremely distorted and absurd. It completely disregarded women's personal dignity and legitimate rights and interests, instead denying gender equality, promoting male supremacy, and degrading women's dignity. The fact that such an advertisement with profoundly misguided values could be approved and published exposes the ignorance and recklessness of the production company, the trivialization of creative planning, and the existence of internal compliance reviews in name only — if not deliberately driven by such misguided values.

As a globally renowned fast-moving consumer goods company, for such a "toxic" advertisement, Dettol must not only proactively "disinfect" and cleanse itself, but must also strengthen its internal management mechanisms, improve its advertising project approval, creative development, publication, and review processes, to prevent such "toxic" advertisements from polluting public discourse again. It should be noted that in 2025, Dettol had already sparked controversy over its advertising content, which sufficiently demonstrates that its internal management mechanisms either have gaps or are deliberately inadequate. Without taking remedial measures and simply letting it slide, similar incidents could very well occur again.

Therefore, market regulatory authorities must proactively take action, promptly cracking down on such illegal advertising practices. Every violation discovered should be dealt with accordingly, making those who seek traffic by degrading women pay the price, thereby compelling market entities to hold public order, good customs, and social morality in reverence. (The author is a judge)