Company faces heavy criticism for reinforcing toxic gender stereotypes by equating a woman’s sexual history with physical cleanliness
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenAlice Yanin ShanghaiPublished: 6:24pm, 25 Jun 2026British hygiene brand Dettol faced significant backlash in China for an advertisement perceived as objectifying women, prompting an apology and the removal of the commercial.
Legal experts indicate it may have violated local laws and could face potential penalties.
Dettol issued an apology on June 22 regarding its latest advert for laundry sanitiser.
The four-minute commercial, presented as a micro-drama, was released in late May but gained notoriety on Chinese social media after segments were widely shared by online bloggers, according to Dahe News.
Lines spoken by the male character, such as “Do you know how to tell whether your girlfriend has lived with other men before?”, “I may not be a virgin myself, but my future wife has to be,” and “It is good that my girlfriend is clean, having not been polluted by other men,” sparked outrage, with many internet users criticising it for promoting distorted values and harmful concepts regarding dating and marriage.
The complete version of the advert is largely inaccessible online in mainland China after the company retracted it in response to public outcry.
