- News>
- Companies & Commodities
Japan`s Toyota pulls China ads after complaints
Shanghai, Dec 05: Japan`s Toyota Motor Corp pulled two magazine ads in China after local readers complained they insulted the country, the company said today, the latest gaffe by a Japanese firm on the mainland.
Shanghai, Dec 05: Japan's Toyota Motor Corp pulled two magazine ads in China after local readers complained they insulted the country, the company said today, the latest gaffe by a Japanese firm on the mainland.
Toyota, which apologised publicly for any offence it may have caused, ran two advertisements for its Land Cruiser and Prado SUV (sport utility vehicle) models.
One featured a Land Cruiser towing a truck that bore a striking resemblance to a Chinese military vehicle. A second showed a stone lion -- a traditional Chinese authority symbol -- saluting a Prado, which translates into ''heavy-handed''. State newspapers said readers had protested the pictures implied Japanese vehicles were more hardy than Chinese military equipment, or that Japanese products were superior to Chinese.
Anti-Japanese sentiment occasionally erupts in China, which believes its Asian neighbour should do more to compensate for war-time atrocities.
A Sino-Japanese company, Futong Showa Optical Communications Co, was forced by regulators to suspend an initial public offering in September because the ''Showa'' in its name dredged up unpleasant memories of the reign of wartime emperor hirohito.
Japanese auto companies such as Toyota, Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co have poured billions of dollars into producing vehicles in China, the world's fastest growing major auto market. Bureau Report
One featured a Land Cruiser towing a truck that bore a striking resemblance to a Chinese military vehicle. A second showed a stone lion -- a traditional Chinese authority symbol -- saluting a Prado, which translates into ''heavy-handed''. State newspapers said readers had protested the pictures implied Japanese vehicles were more hardy than Chinese military equipment, or that Japanese products were superior to Chinese.
Anti-Japanese sentiment occasionally erupts in China, which believes its Asian neighbour should do more to compensate for war-time atrocities.
A Sino-Japanese company, Futong Showa Optical Communications Co, was forced by regulators to suspend an initial public offering in September because the ''Showa'' in its name dredged up unpleasant memories of the reign of wartime emperor hirohito.
Japanese auto companies such as Toyota, Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co have poured billions of dollars into producing vehicles in China, the world's fastest growing major auto market. Bureau Report