Swiss watchmaker Swatch has issued an apology and removed advertisements featuring an Asian male model making a gesture that many criticized as a "slanted eye" pose. The ads, part of the Swatch Essentials collection, faced significant backlash online in China, where users expressed that the images resembled racist stereotypes about Asian eyes.

In response to the uproar, Swatch posted an apology on its official Weibo account on Saturday, stating it had "taken note of the recent concerns" and had removed all related materials globally. The company expressed, "We sincerely apologize for any distress or misunderstanding this may have caused." The same apology was also shared on Instagram.

The controversy has affected Swatch's stock, which fell by as much as 2.7% in early trading on Monday before recovering slightly. Justin Zhao, a 23-year-old student, shared his shock at the incident, saying, "Swatch has been in the Chinese market for many years, and I feel like most people are familiar with the brand. I don’t know why they did it. They were able to somehow release this after going through numerous approvals."

The backlash comes at a challenging time for Swatch, which has seen its shares decline by more than half since early 2023. The company is also facing a 39% tariff on its exports to the United States. Last year, Swatch derived approximately 27% of its sales from the China, Hong Kong, and Macau region. However, the company reported a 14.6% drop in revenue, totaling 6.74 billion Swiss francs ($8.4 billion) in 2024, due to a downturn in demand in China. Swatch noted it is experiencing "persistently difficult market conditions and weak demand for consumer goods overall."

Fashion influencer Peter Xu, who has over seven million followers on Weibo, commented on the situation, stating that the controversy could impact Swatch's business in China. However, he believes the swift apology may mitigate long-term damage. "It was pretty stupid to release images like those ones," he added.