"Racist" D&G Ad: Chinese Model Says It Nearly Ruined Her Career
Remember the famous controversial D&G scandal from last year?
Article: D&G = Done & Gone? Fashion Brand Insults China
The origin of all this mess is a commercial that featured an Asian female model with a male voice-over imitating a Chinglish accent while stiffly reading “Dolce & Gabbana” and addressing pizza and pasta with adoring phrases like "Great" and "Is this still too big for you"?
The whole tone of the video was truly arrogant and deemed racist by many worldwide.
On January 21st, two months following the scandal, the actress from the commercial posted a screenshot on Weibo in which she explains how the entire thing unfolded for her.
Given how intensified the conflict became at the time, she was quickly attacked by “keyboard warriors” (online trolls) and decided to let it blow over before she could speak for herself.
Her name is Zuo Ye, a Chinese native who became a full-time model fresh out of college.
Given how big this gig was for her, she wasn’t fully aware of how the ad would be edited in the end.
Zuo Ye detailed the entire process of shooting the commercial.
First, she had no idea what the video was actually about beyond what she was told; namely, that she would be tasting delicious Italian food. This fact alone says a lot about the commercial and model industry…
The set was mostly made up of staff speaking Italian to one another and one director who spoke English. She was acting according to the requirements that had been given to her.
In her letter, she admits feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable when she was asked to pick up the big, sweet fried roll using chopsticks: “Are you kidding me? With chopsticks?!” she asked the director, who responded: “Yes! I know it’s hard, but just try to do that.”
Everything she did was obviously asked by her directors, including the exaggerated expressions and odd laughs. She didn’t think much of it at the time because of the trust she had instilled in the D&G brand and the company who arranged the shooting of this commercial.
This was a big day for her, and she never expected the ad to cause so much controversy.
If she felt so embarrassed to do what she was asked, why didn’t she retort and say something to her director?
She provided some insights into how the modeling world works: "Commercial advertisements approached by professional models are not eligible to be seen in advance nor suggest changes”, she said, adding that models who feel conflicted with their own values and ethics can always refuse to shoot.
While Zuo Ye said that working for such a universally-recognized brand like D&G would be an exciting step up for her career, she admitted that this commercial "nearly killed her modeling career".
What do you think she should have done?
Comment below!
Source: Weibo:@Sadosang-
Editor: Crystal Huang
Don't forget to share this article with friends by pressing the top right corner.
Advertisement
Editor's Pick
Two Ways to Help Expats Stay Long-Term in China