A P&G stand in a supermarket in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu Province. File photo: CFP

Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) apologized after one of its website writings published on ones of its Chinese WeChat accounts, alleging women's feet smell worse than men's, which sparked uproar in the cyberspace.

The article is titled "women's foot odor is five times worse than male's. You can smell it if you don't believe it."

It says that women's foot sweat gland is five times the amount of men's, because women's foot bacteria reproduction speed is 2,300 percent, much higher than men's 400 percent.

The article sparked criticism and controversy on China's social media platforms, with a lot of netizens accusing P&G of not showing enough respect for women. Some users of China's social media Weibo placed a list of P&G's brands and called for a boycott of those brands.

"I chose other brands to place orders; It (P&G) doesn't care for the money of our female consumers," one netizen wrote.

After the uproar, P&G later deleted the WeChat article.

The company also published an apology on its official Weibo account, saying that the company always advocates equality, inclusion and respect. It also said the company has "seriously rectified" the WeChat account's operation, and will deeply reflect on the matter to prevent such bizarreness from happening again.

P&G is the latest of foreign companies that have faced backfire from Chinese consumers for making inappropriate remarks. 

Previously, fashions brands including Dior and D&G have faced severe criticism in China for reportedly insulting China, while a number of overseas sportswear brands also faced anger from Chinese consumers after they slander cotton made in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.




Global Times