Snickers Apologizes to China for Saying Taiwan Is Independent Country
Category: News & Politics
Via: gregtx • 3 years ago • 15 commentsBy: Jordan Hart (Business Insider)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The makers of the Snickers candy bar, Mars Wrigley, issued an apology to China on Friday after the company faced backlash for suggesting Taiwan is an independent country during a promotional event.
The criticism stemmed from a launch event debuting a limited-edition Snickers bar, during which the company said the new product was available in select countries including South Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan, Reuters reported.
Images and video from the event went viral on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, prompting Mars Wrigley to issue an apology on its Snickers China Weibo account and assure the public that it would amend the content in question.
"Mars Wrigley respects China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity and conducts its business operations in strict compliance with local Chinese laws and regulations," Mars Wrigley said in the statement.
—Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 5, 2022
One commenter on Weibo garnered 8,000 likes in their criticism of the advertisement.
"Say it: Taiwan is an inseparable part of China's territory!" the comment read, according to a report from Reuters.
Although Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims, the Chinese government still considers the island a part of its territory, though the nation has operated as a self-governed democratic country since 1949.
The incident comes on the heels of heightened tension after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan on Tuesday, in what Chinese officials called an "egregious pro vacation."
China had tried to thwart the trip ahead of her arrival, citing threats of military attacks and economic consequences. The country later announced military drills around Taiwan and a ban on imports from the country.
China subsequently issued sanctions on Pelosi and her family on Friday. That same day, Apple warned suppliers not to use "made in Taiwan" labels on products to avoid angering China.
"We want Taiwan to always have freedom with security and we're not backing away from that," Pelosi said at a press event on Wednesday.
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Dammit, now I'm just hangry!!...
Somehow I expect the excretion addition will not be limited.
What a bunch of babies the Chinese government is. They’re mad at Snickers. Pathetic.
Hell, they’re still flying planes over the island because of Pelosi, and she left two days ago.
One of the biggest reasons why the world is in such turmoil, and hatred of others rules the day is because of the misinformation and disinformation and outright lies that are spread in what is posted as comments over social news sites like NT, and over the internet generally.
I take note that this comment has been posted
I have been doing a search of world news sites, including Chinese ones, to determine if ANYTHING has been posted ANYWHERE that indicates that the Chinese government has made any comment whatsoever that would lend credence to that comment. There has been absolutely NO INDICATION that the Chinese government has even noticed, let alone said anythng to the Snickers producers or done anything about the matter.
There was a saying during WW2 "Loose lips sink ships". These days "Deliberate lies lead to demise".
Obviously the apology was forthcoming, not when the manufacturer was concerned about what the government might say or do, but when it came to their realization from the blowback how much money it was going to lose when the Chinese people would no longer purchase their product. Who is it who said "Greed is good"?
Are you going to pretend that the Chinese government doesn't exercise strict control over their social media? And I guess you're just going to ignore the hysteria over Taiwan. Typical.
No, I'm going to stay on topic and not try to deflect due to not being able to justify my comment in the manner that others do around here.
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Yeah, right. It’s “deflection” to talk about things in the actual story. China bullies companies. China bullies Taiwan. China bullies everyone connected to the South China Sea. [deleted]
I recall when Americans were so mad at France they ran around calling French Fries 'Freedom' Fries. Every nation indulges in teapot tango tempests.
During WWI, we renamed sauerkraut as “liberty cabbage”.
Proving that hypocritical comments are posted on this article.
More unfunny satire
Satire?
Don't distract her, she does her best work when she's singularly focused.
Seems like it should be, but this actually happened.