Thread: Outrage at Tesco Lotus commercial showing Thai maid being slapped

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

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..

Originally Posted by 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..

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

Think about it.

Originally Posted by 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..

Simply seconded. I could not have written a better post.

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

a lot to do about nothing

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

Originally Posted by Neverna

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.

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

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

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

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

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

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

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

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

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.

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.

The advertising executives obviously know their audiences psychology mind set.

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?

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

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

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

Originally Posted by Bobcock

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.

Originally Posted by terry57

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

Are this lot a better advert for tesco?

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

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).

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

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.

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

Are this lot a better advert for tesco?

Whoa! Reminds me of this. (Scared the shit out of me as a kid) :-

Originally Posted by kmart

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

Are this lot a better advert for tesco?

Whoa! Reminds me of this. (Scared the shit out of me as a kid) :-

That must be what inspired my dad's joke, told to me 45 or more years ago.

A chap is riding the train into Sydney and sees a man tearing off pieces of pink paper and throwing them out the window.
After a while, the chap is intrigued and asks the man why he is throwing bits of pink paper out the window.
The man replies that it's to keep the pink elephants away.
Chap responds, "Pink elephants? There are no pink elephants!"
"Yes", replied the man, "See it's good stuff this paper, isn't it?"