A Chinese television commercial for Qiaobi laundry detergent is causing a stir for its controversial racial content.

The ad is a reversal of an Italian commercial for Coloreria, a detergent designed for washing colors, in which a woman forces a skinny white man into her washing machine. When the wash is complete, the man who emerges is muscular and black.

Like Us on Facebook

In the Chinese version, a young woman is shown doing her laundry. When a black man whistles at her from across the room, she lures him over with a beckoning finger.

The character pretends she is going to kiss the man, but instead pushes a detergent pod into his mouth and stuffs him into the washing machine.

Just like the woman in the Italian ad, the Chinese character sits on top of the washing machine to keep the man from escaping. When the cycle is complete, the man rises from the machine, transformed into an Asian male with fair skin.

The ad appears to be a reference to the Chinese beauty standard of light skin.

According to the Shanghaiist, the ad appeared on the big screen before movies in at least one cinema chain in China.

Buzzfeed called it the "most racist ad of 2016," saying the commercial "will likely leave you feeling like you need a shower."

Online news site Vox said the ad is "blatantly racist."

Although the focus on the ad is negative, it has generated a lot of attention for Qiaobi, a new brand that first appeared toward the end of 2015, according to Buzzfeed. A YouTube video of the commercial uploaded yesterday already had almost 1.5 million views.  

TagsQiaobi detergent, Qiaobi ad, racial, racist ad, Coloreria ad, viral ad, Chinese laundry detergent