Dettol ad sparks sexism backlash in China, pulled after uproar

Dettol pulled a five-minute micro-drama ad in China after it ignited accusations that the British hygiene brand had imported purity tropes and dating stereotypes into a disinfectant pitch. The commercial opened with a man searching for a partner who was “clean” and “not tainted by other men,” then reversed course when his new girlfriend called out his misogyny and ended the relationship. Dettol was then positioned as the answer to “toxic men [who] are just like bacteria.”

The backlash spread quickly across Chinese social media, where viewers said the ad objectified women and called for a boycott. One Weibo user wrote, “What a trashy advertisement. It’s left me speechless,” while another said, “I’m never using Dettol again. There are so many brands in the market after all.” The response underscored how quickly culture-war style messaging can collapse when it is translated into a market with its own sharp online discourse around gender, dating and respectability.

Dettol said the advert was intended to criticise gender stereotypes, but that snippets circulating online distorted its message. In a statement on Monday, the company said, “We recognise that it has offended many people, especially women. We take responsibility for any negligence in creating and reviewing the content of the advert.” It added that it would review its content moderation processes and stressed that while Dettol was founded to protect family health, “true protection also lies in safeguarding the dignity of every individual and their right to be treated equally.”

The incident adds to a pattern of reputational strain for a brand that Reckitt says is its number one global antiseptic personal care brand. Dettol’s China site says the brand has been in the market for 90 years, and Reckitt’s China business is based in Shanghai. The company is still betting on growth there: its 2025 annual report says a 100% plant-derived antiseptic liquid launched in China in 2025 is expected to generate around £60 million in its first year.

For Manya Koetse, founder of Eye on Digital China, the episode was a warning about how badly a global brand can misread the local conversation. “Quite a mess for a brand whose entire business revolves around cleanliness,” she said. “Even if the intention was to portray the male character as being in the wrong, the message was conveyed so poorly that it backfired spectacularly.” The uproar echoed a previous Dettol controversy in China last year over an ad that said, “The woman was ‘returned’ just before her wedding; it must be because she was not clean.”