The Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Administration fined Zongzheng Food 800,000 yuan (about $120,000) over a Dove ad, saying it portrayed infidelity as appealing and breached social customs.
The fine was issued in October; the regulator disclosed the case Nov. 12. Zongzheng Food made the ad and also operated a Dove store on Kuaishou, a Chinese e-commerce platform. The August clip depicts a woman accepting chocolates from another romantic interest after her boyfriend ignored her.
The administration said the ad presented infidelity as a “sweet experience,” promoted “wrong views on marriage and relationships” and violated “good social customs.”
Dove apologized in August, saying its content review process had not been followed and calling the advertisement “clearly inappropriate.” Dove said on Weibo it was responsible for all content posted on its official channels.
The Straits Times reported that Chinese authorities publicly criticized an Oppo advertisement joking about infidelity in May; Oppo said it had severely punished several executives. The newspaper linked the Dove case to official efforts to promote traditional family structures amid demographic pressures. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs reported 4.6 million marriage registrations from January through September, down 9.8% from a year earlier.
