As a result of a protest movement that appeared in this conservative country where the Muslim minority is large, the Korean company withdrew an advertising spot featuring a veiled woman and a drag queen presented as her son.
Korean tech giant Samsung has taken down an online advert that aired in Singapore that showed a veiled woman hugging a drag queen, billed as her son, after protests in the Southeast Asian country.
The rights of the LGBT community remain a sensitive subject in the prosperous city-state with conservative values. A law prohibiting sex between men dating from the British colonial era is still in force there.
The ad – part of Samsung’s « Listen to Your Heart » campaign for wearables like headphones and smartwatches – showed a Muslim mother showing affection for her son dressed as a woman.
This clip has been violently criticized online, a group mobilized against gay rights believing that it was an “unfortunate attempt to promote LGBT ideology within a largely conservative Muslim community”. This group, called We are against Pinkdot – “We oppose Pinkdot”, a leading gay rights support group – felt it was dangerous to normalize homosexuality and the transgender movement on the island. Muslims make up about 19% of Singapore’s population and are predominantly of Malay descent. They constitute a significant minority in this country of 6.2 million inhabitants where the majority of the population is of Chinese origin.
Samsung admits “having made a mistake”
In response to criticism, Samsung announced it was removing the ad from all platforms, as it « could be seen as disrespectful and offensive » by some. “We recognize that we made a mistake,” added the group on its Facebook page.
Samsung has pulled an advert in Singapore featuring a Muslim mother’s unconditional love for her drag queen son, following backlash from vocal conservatives.
Samsung apologised. Local activists are calling the move censorship and erasure. pic.twitter.com/5459TK9Dhi
— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) January 21, 2022
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Pinkdot criticized people who said they were offended by the campaign and got it removed. « To this day, we don’t understand what offended these people – the fact that there are LGBT people in Singapore, the fact that we deserve love, or both, » the group said.
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