The Ivy apologises for ‘orientalising’ advert
Chain criticised for video ‘mish-mash of cultural archetypes’ promoting its new Asian restaurant
‘That kind of racism has always been there and dormant under the surface. We have become very easy targets’
THE IVY has apologised for releasing a “garish, dehumanising and orientalising” advert featuring “a horrible mishmash of cultural archetypes” to promote its new restaurant.
The restaurant chain opened The Ivy Asia in Chelsea on July 30, claiming to offer “a unique blend of flavours and ingredients taking inspiration from a number of Asian cuisines”.
It posted a promotional video at the weekend to its Instagram page, which was criticised for its use of Chinese and Japanese caricatures.
In the clip, two women dressed to resemble geisha girls are portrayed as clumsy and overweight. After going for a chaotic ride in a rickshaw, the pair can be seen bursting into the restaurant and falling to the ground, disturbing diners who are all white and portrayed as composed in comparison.
The restaurant quickly removed the video and posted a short apology on social media saying “it was posted without due consideration” and has now begun an internal review to find out how the clip was made public.
Daniel York Loh, an actor and filmmaker who is of a mixed-race Singaporean ethnicity, was one of those who complained, saying: “This video is garish, dehumanising and orientalising.
“It’s a horrible mishmash of cultural archetypes mixed together. It has comedy geisha and the Fu Manchu-type guy pulling the rickshaw.”
Fu Manchu is a literary villain of Chinese origin who has been singled out as a prime example in the past of racism in the arts towards Chinese people. The advert provoked anger online, with food writer Mimi Aye tweeting: “I just watched this and I don’t want to live anymore,” while botanist James Wong wrote sarcastically: “Sometimes I really wish I did know kung fu ...” in reference to a caricature of a Chinese man in the clip.
Sonny Leong, the entrepreneur, called for Ivy’s PR team to be sacked, tweeting of the apology posted on Instagram: “This (non) apology was forced upon you. Sack your PR and ad agency.” British-japanese farmer Jase Song said: “The Ivy Asia and their now-shelved recent marketing effort is a train wreck. In an attempt to attract customers, they’ve resorted to an ‘Oh, look at how quaint the savages are’ approach to showcase Asian culture. Asians are still just an ‘amuse-bouche’ to you, huh?” A spokesman for the restaurant said: “We would like to sincerely apologise for the offence caused by our marketing video. It was wrong. It was done naively and it was totally inappropriate and culturally insensitive. We had a complete ignorance of understanding.
“We are conducting an immediate internal review into our marketing processes and publication guidelines to make 100 per cent sure this does not happen again.
“We need to educate ourselves and we are already looking to engage the relevant external bodies to review concept, culture and all internal and external processes.
“We must learn lessons and move forward in a totally new and appropriate way. Once again, we apologise unreservedly.”
Singer Lily Allen and actress Naomie Harris last month attended the restaurant’s opening party, which included performers dressed as sumo wrestlers and paper dragons being paraded through the premises. Mr York Loh said he had seen a “massive upsurge” in hate crime towards people of South-east Asian origin, both in Britain and America, since the start of the pandemic.
“That kind of racism has always been there and dormant under the surface, but we have become very easy targets because that kind of thing just doesn’t show us as human beings,” he said of the advert.
“The most common thing I am hearing about this is, ‘How can this be happening in 2021’, and my answer is that I can absolutely believe this is happening.
“The other thing is how many layers that thing got through. It was not just stuck together on someone’s iphone. They’ve spent money on that.”
Mr York Loh added: “The actors are not people I recognise but there is a whole history of this.
“We are kind of like a theme-show ethnic minority but you would look at the reaction that video has got and you would hope that is coming to an end.”