Mini, founded in the United Kingdom, has replied to an internet outrage in China accusing it of racism during the Shanghai Auto Show.
A video from the occasion appeared to show Mini employees serving ice cream to foreign tourists while refusing it to Chinese customers.
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Mini China, which is owned by BMW of Germany, stated that the snacks were distributed to business staff.
It did, however, express regret for “the negative mood the incident brought on everyone.”
Mini China claimed in a statement issued on the Chinese social media platform Weibo that it distributed 600 ice creams during the exhibition on April 18 and 19.
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“In addition to distributing 300 portions of ice cream per day, we also reserved a very small portion for our hardworking colleagues on-site,” Mini China explained.
“The four to five foreigners you see in the video are colleagues who are wearing employee badges,” the statement continued.
The event, according to the corporation, was caused by gaps in management and training, and the video calls for consideration for employees.
Mini China previously stated that the donation was “intended to give sweetness to friends big and small.”
With over 93 million views, the topic “BMW Mini” soon became one of the top searches on Weibo.
The feedback was mostly negative. “You should have specified that the initial purpose was to give ‘foreign’ big and small friends sweetness,” a post with over 165,000 likes said.
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“I feel ashamed as a Mini owner,” another person stated.
Following the event, one vlogger distributed ice cream in front of Mini’s auto show stand.
“I was just angry, and I only gave it to Chinese people,” he told Jimu News, a Chinese news outlet.
Other social media users, on the other hand, urged restraint. “Let’s be reasonable here. “No matter what kind of explanation [Mini] provides, there will always be people who disagree,” said a post that received several harsh responses.
“We should not exaggerate a problem to the point where it becomes a question of principle or an ideological issue,” stated Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the state-owned Global Times.
“Let the staff learn their lessons and return to normalcy as much as possible in the future.” “Let’s not make other vendors nervous as a result of this,” he continued.
With rising nationalist sentiment online, Chinese internet users have become increasingly vociferous about how Chinese people are portrayed.
Last week, the French luxury designer Dior was accused of racism on Chinese social media for an ad depicting an Asian model tugging up the corner of her eye.
The image, which was promoting Dior’s new beauty collection, was quickly removed.
This was not Dior’s first brush with scandal in China, one of its most important markets.
It was accused of “culturally appropriating” a Chinese traditional design for one of its skirts in 2022. Earlier that year, a Chinese snack manufacturer was similarly chastised for advertising with a mannequin with narrow eyes.
