Dolce & Gabbana: How a Campaign Triggered a China Backlash

The Dolce & Gabbana China backlash began on November 17, 2018, when the brand posted three promotional videos showing a Chinese model eating Italian food with chopsticks. Four days later it cancelled its Shanghai show, and Chinese retailers began removing its products. Reuters reported in 2019 that Asia-Pacific fell to 22% of the group's sales from 25%, and CNN reported in 2021 that the brand was still absent from Tmall and JD.com.

What happened in the Dolce & Gabbana China backlash?

Dolce & Gabbana posted three videos on Weibo and Instagram on November 17, 2018, to promote a Shanghai show called "The Great Show," according to The China Project's report. The videos used the hashtags #DGTheGreatShow and #DGLovesChina.

The videos showed a Chinese model struggling to eat pizza, cannoli and spaghetti with chopsticks. CNN's 2021 report said the clips used stereotypical Chinese music and a patronizing Mandarin voiceover, and Reuters reported that users criticized the narrator's lecturing tone.

A second problem compounded the first. Screenshots appeared online that appeared to show co-founder Stefano Gabbana making derogatory remarks about China in a private Instagram exchange. Gabbana and the brand said the account had been hacked, and Gabbana denied sending the messages.

Who was involved in the case?

Seven named parties shaped the Dolce & Gabbana China case, from the founders to the retailers that pulled the brand.

How did the backlash unfold, step by step?

The Dolce & Gabbana backlash moved from video to cancelled show to retail removal in five days.

Why did the apology fail to stop the backlash?

The apology failed to stop the backlash because it arrived after retailers had already removed the brand and after the brand had described the alleged messages as unauthorized.

In the video, Domenico Dolce called the episode a "cultural misunderstanding" and asked for forgiveness, and both founders said sorry in Mandarin, according to Reuters' report on the apology. The speakers used Italian with Chinese subtitles.

Shaun Rein, founder and managing director of China Market Research Group, told CNN that the alleged private messages, rather than the ad campaign, are what keep the brand's reputation weak in China. He also argued that the brand's later defamation suit against Diet Prada kept the story alive, and he compared the effect to the Streisand effect, in which an attempt to suppress information draws more attention to it.

The case separates two problems that need different responses. The ad was a content problem that a withdrawal and an apology can address. The messages were a credibility problem, and the claim that the accounts had been hacked asked audiences to accept an explanation that was not independently confirmed in public.

What did the backlash cost Dolce & Gabbana?

The backlash cost Dolce & Gabbana retail access and market share in Asia-Pacific, though the company's own filing did not attribute its figures to the campaign.

The Business of Fashion's Reuters report noted that the filing did not mention the ad controversy and instead cited global trade tensions, China's economic slowdown and the Hong Kong protests. The filing did say the group expected sales in Greater China to decline in the following fiscal year.

Celebrity relationships also ended. CNN reported that Chinese models and celebrities, including the singer Karry Wang, terminated their contracts, that the actress Zhang Ziyi said through her studio she would never buy or wear the brand again, and that the brand had not signed a major mainland Chinese name since.

What did Dolce & Gabbana do to recover?

Dolce & Gabbana rebuilt its Asia-Pacific leadership and changed its China marketing, while Western markets were more forgiving.

In June 2019 the brand hired Carlo Gariglio as president and CEO of Asia-Pacific to win back lost ground, according to FashionNetwork's report on the appointment. The founders told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that China was recovering after mistakes had brought business to a halt.

For a 2020 Chinese Valentine's Day campaign the brand used White and computer-generated models it called "virtual idols," CNN reported. In the same article, CNN noted the label had returned to the pages of British Vogue and had been worn by celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Priyanka Chopra and Lizzo.

What can communicators take from the Dolce & Gabbana case?

Communicators can take four controls from the Dolce & Gabbana case, each tied to a specific failure point.

For other cross-cultural and creative-review failures, see the Balenciaga ad scandal case study and the Shein influencer trip case. For the frameworks behind them, see the crisis communications pillar, the luxury PR directory and the fashion PR pillar.

What is the lesson of the Dolce & Gabbana case in one sentence?

The Dolce & Gabbana case shows that a brand entering a market on its audience's terms needs local authority over the creative and a verified account of every public claim before the first statement. A team can use the table above as a launch check: if no reviewer from the target market can stop the campaign, and no one can prove a claim the brand is about to make, the launch is not ready.