The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Brand Purpose Work & Wellbeing Diversity and Inclusion

Samsung takes down ad featuring drag queen in Singapore after backlash

Author

By Shawn Lim, Reporter, Asia Pacific

January 20, 2022 | 2 min read

Samsung has removed an ad in its wearable products campaign in Singapore after receiving backlash for it.

samsung singapore

The ad showed how the woman used Samsung’s wireless earbuds to ‘listen to her heart’

In an attempt to promote diversity and inclusion, the South Korean electronics giant selected a number of talent, including a Malay-Muslim woman and her drag queen son, for its ‘Listen to your heart’ campaign.

The ad showed how the woman used Samsung’s wireless earbuds to ‘listen to her heart’ and love her son in spite of queerness being frowned upon by their religion.

However, this particular talent pairing in the ad upset some viewers in the Malay-Muslim community in Singapore and they urged Samsung to take the ad down, which the South Korean company duly obliged.

“We are aware of the feedback that one of our recent campaign films for our wearable products may be perceived as insensitive and offensive to some members of our local community. We acknowledge that we have fallen short in this instance, and have since removed the content from all public platforms,” Samsung said in a Facebook post.

“Samsung believes that innovation and growth are driven by diversity and inclusivity. We will certainly be more mindful and thorough in considering all perspectives and viewpoints for our future marketing campaigns.”

Brand Purpose Work & Wellbeing Diversity and Inclusion

More from Brand Purpose

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +