American confectionery giant Mars Wrigley has insisted it “respects China’s national sovereignty” and apologized after an ad for its Snickers bar identified Taiwan as a country, sparking outrage on the mainland.
Screenshots of the marketing for the nutty candy featuring South Korean boy band BTS were quickly taken to social media in mainland China, where any suggestion that the island is an independent nation is highly taboo.
“We are aware of reports of Snickers-related activity in certain regions of Asia, take it very seriously and apologize deeply,” said Mars Wrigley in a statement, posted to Snickers China’s Weibo page on Friday .
The company has asked Snickers’ local team to review and adjust its official website and social media account “to ensure the company’s promotional content is accurate,” it added.
“Mars Wrigley respects China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity and conducts its business in strict compliance with local Chinese laws and regulations,” the statement said.
Hours after the initial statement, Snickers China shared another Weibo post, adding that “there is only one China in this world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.”
Beijing reacted with fury this week when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defied his warnings and visited Taiwan – which China has claimed as part of its territory and vowed to take it by force if necessary.
China on Friday said it was ending cooperation with the United States on key issues including climate change, and has surrounded the self-governing democratic island with a series of military drills in recent days.
Mars Wrigley is far from the first international company to apologize for concerns about losing access to China’s vast consumer market.
In 2019, French luxury brand Dior apologized after using a map of China that didn’t include Taiwan in a presentation.
The Marriott hotel chain’s website in China was shut down by authorities for a week in 2018 after a customer questionnaire listed Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong as separate countries.
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