Outrage at Tesco Lotus commercial showing Thai maid being slapped

[Hans Mann]

Tesco Lotus has been forced to apologize for an advert which shows a Thai woman abusing her maid after it was slammed on social media for depicting domestic worker abuse.

The Thai-language advert, which is meant to be light-hearted and targeted at a Thai audience, shows the maid dropping a plate of crisps into the lap of her boss who then gets up and slaps the maid across the face.

But in the next scene when the boss is told by the maid that Tesco Lotus has a promotion offering huge discounts, she says to the maid “Mai pen rai,” or It’s okay.”

Jerome Taylor, a journalist based in Bangkok, tweeted that the ad covered a “real issue.”

Viewer Rob van Gelder said the advert was “a disgrace".

"What is even worse is that they make the final statement with exactly this scene," he wrote on Twitter.

A spokesman for Tesco said in a statement: “It was not our intention to cause offence and we’d like to apologize for any upset caused. We’ll be removing the scene from the advert going forward.”

But is the advert offensive in Thailand? Leo Burnett Thailand issued a statement regarding the scene:

“This scene is actually from a classic Thai drama, which the agency tweaked to add a sense of humor to it. As you see, this particular scene is part of a series of scenarios of people eating chips in the spot. In fact, this work is tracking well locally, as the locals are familiar with this classic scene.”

While the English subtitles provided for the scene loosely refer to the abused woman as a “housemaid,” the Thai narrator specifically calls her “Podjamarn”, the name of a character in a classic Thai novel, “Baan Sai Thong,” who was forced to be a maid in her own house — a lot like the Thai version of Cinderella.

The story has been turned into movies, television dramas, and plays about a dozen times since the 1950s.

Despite the fact that the advert is aimed at the Thai market where consumers are used to seeing acts of domestic and union violence every day on their televisions, creating jokes out of domestic violence is problematic....

Farangs outraged by Tesco Lotus commercial showing Thai maid being slapped (VIDEO) | Coconuts Bangkok

[NZdick1983]

PC fooking wankers have nothing better to do?

Hardly shocking, when most Lakorn (drama) features a few slaps anyway...

I always found Thai adverts to be quite well made, better than their TV programs in fact... (doesn't say much, I know)...

Honestly, a fuss about nothing jing jing..

[Neverna]

Not shocking at all. It clearly wasn't a real maid or a real smack, and given the context, it was mildly "amusing". It certainly wasn't promoting the smacking of maids due to their dropping snacks that weren't bought at super low prices.

[cockneyboy187]

a lot to do about nothing

[harrybarracuda]

Juvenile shyte aimed at cretins with the mental age of a mayfly.

[Dillinger]

It certainly wasn't promoting the smacking of maids due to their dropping snacks that weren't bought at super low prices.

I think you'll find it was....

The second time the maid throws the snacks; they are thrown on top of the woman's head, which will probably get you killed here, but she gets a mai pen rai because they were bought at smashing plices plomotion.

[thaimeme]

PC fooking wankers have nothing better to do?

Hardly shocking, when most Lakorn (drama) features a few slaps anyway...

I always found Thai adverts to be quite well made, better than their TV programs in fact... (doesn't say much, I know)...

Honestly, a fuss about nothing jing jing..

Did ya notice that the critique cited and concerned derived from Farang?

Think about it.

[Maanaam]

Not shocking at all. It clearly wasn't a real maid or a real smack, and given the context, it was mildly "amusing". It certainly wasn't promoting the smacking of maids due to their dropping snacks that weren't bought at super low prices.

It's not promoting the smacking of maids, but it's normalising it.
Monkey see, monkey do. Especially when monkey see rich person do it: That's how rich people act, I'd better act that way to appear rich.

[chassamui]

Farang mistakenly offended on behalf of Thais. Who'd a thunk it.

[Bettyboo]

There's no way that was a maid, she had very light skin...

Juvenile shyte aimed at cretins with the mental age of a mayfly.

A tad harsh, but yes, I did quite like the ad.

[wasabi]

The advertising executives obviously know their audiences psychology mind set.

[Dapper]

Other than the slap - which is subjectively culturally accepted as humorous or not, great fucking advert.

Irony of the whole sketch is, the "contentious" issue focuses on an ultimately fucking irrelevant point.

What should be contentious is that companies are allowed, nay encouraged, to coax folk into stuffing their faces full of chemical shit that kills them

[DJ Pat]

Where was the maid?
I saw the woman smacking some other hi-so but must have missed the maid bit..

Had it been already edited for youtube?

[Bogon]

^ Fast forward the video to around 0:56 and the small subtitles at the bottom say "This is a housemaid..."

[Bobcock]

I just saw the advert..... I liked it.

My maid is gonna cop a total hiding now that I know it's acceptable.

[kmart]

There's no way that was a maid, she had very light skin...

Juvenile shyte aimed at cretins with the mental age of a mayfly.

A tad harsh, but yes, I did quite like the ad.

Me too. I enjoy shopping at Tesco's also, stepping around whole villages picnicking down aisle #7.

[terry57]

This is how I view this fuked up place.

Farang should simply shut the fuk up, if they don't like shit then Fuk Em, piss off out of the Joint.

I like Thai people much better than these shit stained moaning Farang.

Dill's OK though and Katie.

[baldrick]

Farang should simply shut the fuk up

yes tweery ? or is that except on dingy forums in the dark corners of tinternet ?

falang no unnerstand thai - I am surprised that there are not more commercials depicting drunk thai men giving the wife a slapping

[DJ Pat]

Are this lot a better advert for tesco?

[Maanaam]

I just saw the advert..... I liked it.

My maid is gonna cop a total hiding now that I know it's acceptable.

Absolutely! If you have money, slapping the menial staff is a sign of your rank in society. You are OBLIGED to do it.

Sarcasm, of course. And this is the point of the protesters: This kind of scene encourages the same in real life.
It's very similar to anti-smoking proponents in the West who successfully got media to stop showing cool or admired people making out that smoking was cool.
Don't show the great unwashed that xyz is ok, whether it's smoking, slapping staff, or whatever.
I think the detest for the scene is warranted.

[Maanaam]

Are this lot a better advert for tesco?

Nah. They might be an advert for Walmart or the US in general, or they could be an advert for (insert fast food chain).

[boloa]

Talking of Thai Add's...this one always made me smile

[terry57]

Are this lot a better advert for tesco?

That is sickening Photo Pat and exactly why most of us want to have fok all to do with the real world.

I'd Red ya but i can't.

[NZdick1983]

Surprised the TD boys mostly agree on this issue (or non-issue)...

I bet the Farang wankers that were horrified by it, were not living in Thailand.

The boundaries are set differently there.. anyway, what gives them the right to censor (or try to) Thai ads??

If the Thais are offended, they will complain using their own medium..Let the PC Farang wanker brigade, stick to protecting us from ourselves in their own homogenized backyard - and leave the god damn madness of Toyland alone FFS...

Makes me want to bitch slap them..

[Maanaam]

Talking of Thai Add's...this one always made me smile

There are some really good Thai ads.

As an aside....why can't the same people that make the clever ads be also employed in other areas of Thai media? Some of these producers and directors are world class.

I was watching a muay Thai bout the other day....and, can you believe it, it was edited with "thwack" "bang" "boof" sounds over the commentary every time a punch or kick was thrown. Adding sound effects, and comical sound effects at that, to a fight????
TIT.